SFTA2: Heroes Broken
by SilverTigerdirector
Summary: The state of China has fallen into chaos.It's guardians now in hiding.Moeru's army controls almost a quarter of China's populace. With the Imperial Army being the only thing keeping the lion from dominating the country, can our heroes rise up once more?
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: Back In Black_

A black claw tapped repeatedly on the wooden arm under it, the action reeking of impatience. Said action had been taking place for half an hour now, non stop. Yet the other three in the blue painted room had soon become accustomed to the sound, for it had been somehow comforting. Everything was quiet other than the monotonous sound of bone hitting wood, and now the other three began to rely on it as more of a metronome than an annoyance.

One of the other three was even more nervous than the clawed one, and rightfully so. His feet shuffled him back and forth throughout the dim room of this place they had called home for the past seven months, and with green eyes darting repeatedly towards the door that seperated him from his new family he continued to pace along the tattered blue area rug that took up almost the entire waiting room. And the amount of chairs along the walls gave the small room a closing in look, which did not help anyone's nerves at all.

The other two sat together on the other side of the room from the clawed one, who sat beside the chipped red door. The scaled one watched the pacing one as the pacer kept walking in and out of the light of the lamp sitting in the corner. The other simply tried to trace invisible drawings with his pinschers into the wooden seat.

The four had been here for hours, and tensions had arisen to new extremes. Someone on the other side of the door, albiet very far away from the door, had been screaming in agony ever since the symptom occured. But for the past hour, the screaming had stopped. And no one had opened the door to allow them to come in yet.

Somebody sighed, making the tapping and the pacing stop. The other three looked at the scaled one, and she glanced at the others with nervous features.

"I-I think someone should go see. Maybe everything is okay.", said the reptile.

The pacing one shook his head deperately in objection, his own face showing utter terror at what he might be facing.

"Po, I'm sure she's fine. Just go and see. If you don't, Koru will have to. And it really isn't his responsibility.", said the snake softly. The white tiger by the door merely flinched at mention of his name, but he would not look away from the markings his claw had created.

The panda rubbed the back of his head and looked at the door behind him,"I...I don't...I mean, I can't sense...", he looked back at Viper in uncertainty.

"Koru, would you please escort Po to the labor room?", she asked politely with a sympathetic voice to her friend. Koru stood up, bowed with his fist in palm, and grabbed Po by the arm.

"Alright fine, I'll do this myself!", retorted Po as he pulled his arm out of the white tiger's grasp.

Koru opened the door for the panda, and slammed it once he left. He then sat down and crossed his arms, staring at the wall above Viper and Mantis.

"Look man. I understand you're upset, but you can't just-", Mantis was interuppted by Koru's chuffing. The bug looked at Viper, who shook her head at him. He sighed and sat back down.

_With Po_

The panda nervously sauntered through the long hall that ironically made Po think of his old school, passing the many rooms and doorways to other halls and even the nearest receptionist's desk before he made his way up to the door where the screaming had earlier occured. He made a gentle fist and hesitantly knocked.

"Yes, who is it?', asked a quiet, older voice.

"I-It's me, Master Shifu.", answered Po in a tone just as silent as the red panda's.

There was a sigh, and Po could hear the tapping of Oogway's staff coming closer, so he backed away. The door opened, and Shifu quickly closed it as soon as the door was behind him, for the panda before him was trying to see inside. Po couldn't make out what was being said, but he could have sworn he heard a lot of hushed whispers coming from inside the room.

Master Shifu looked up at Po with a small, and rather unsettling smile. His eyes were quite bloodshot, and he had many more wrinkles out of sheer stress from the situation. Po's eyebrows lowered in reluctance, and he inhaled a deep breath to prepare for what might come.

"Po...", Shifu closed his eyes, but turned his head to the open balcony on their right and opened his eyes once more. He motioned to the balcony, and they walked over to the doorway that allowed entrance to the man made cliff. The railings were made of stone just as the exterior floor, but they were high enough so that anyone injured would be less than able to fall off of the side. And for good reason, for the hospital they made refuge in for so long stood at the edge of a large canyon, whose bottom could not be seen in the thin cresent night. Once the two found the railings, Shifu sighed once more and turned around as the soft flicker of the outside lantern danced a solumn light across his face,"Po, there were some...complications.", when Po's eyes went wide and he began to turn around to seemingly go rushing back in, Shifu continued with a raised paw,"B-but they are both fine."

Po sighed in great relief and turned back around to face Shifu,"Good. But what were the complications?"

"Po, I am so sorry. This is truly a sad thing to curse such a wonderful night. It seems that he has sustained some scarring.", Shifu shook his head slightly with a slightly opened maw and squinted eyes of confusion,"I...have never seen anything like this. No magic has done this before, not to a child, and certainly not to a fetus. Moeru truly is a monster."

As Po opened his mouth to reply in agreement, he stopped himself. And his mouth formed a smile,"It's a boy?"

Shifu chuckled for the first time in days. Leave it to Po to see the best out of a bad situation,"Yes, it is a boy, Po.", Po turned around and ran back inside,"But be careful! You do not know the extent of-!", he sighed and lowered his paw again. He once more gripped the wooden handle of his former master's staff, and the echoes of it's tapping was once again heard when he returned inside towards the waiting room in a weary hobble.

Po gently opened the door and poked his head inside. Tigress was asleep, and she looked exausted. The small lamps that hung about the walls like they did every room in the healing house gave great definition to the bags under her eyes. He slipped into the room and looked around to find his newborn. He soon found it laying in the arms of his grandmother, surrounded by two other giddy, but very tired females in the corner.

Po smiled and walked over quietly to Jiu-Ne and Saisei, who were making gentle whispers and baby faces to the thing wrapped in cloth. Song herelf leaned up against the corner behind the two, smiling at the baby. Despite histories of resentment and pain you could not break the spirit of the attraction that is a newborn child.

Jiu-Ne looked up, followed by the other two. And all of them smiled at him. Po smiled back, if not a little nervously from meeting his new son, and he held out his arms. The smiles faded some, however, and Saisei stood up with a frown.

"Listen, I uh...", she said under her breath and rubbing the back of her head,"I'm...sorry. I wish I did better, tried harder...it was-"Po just kissed her on the forehead and hugged her.

"It's okay, hun. You saved my boy and the love of my life. It isn't your fault, alright?", when Saisei nodded and smiled, he let her go and held out his arms once again. This time, Jiu-Ne stood up and slowly yet carefully she handed the boy over to the panda.

Po nodded a bit to Jiu-Ne in a silent thank you, and looked down at his son. Only his face was exposed, but it was the most precious face Po had ever seen. And he immediately fell in love with this child. But he had to admit this was definitely not what he was expecting.

The child had black fur, but thin white stripes along it's forehead, cheeks and ears. The patterns of his forehead were very close to Tigress', save for the splayed out almost flower-like shape imbetween his eyes. Oh those eyes. They were scarlet just like his mother's. But they did not have any yellowing around the irises to mimick hers. The child's nose was black like his, but the snout itself was wide like his mom's. His ears were peculiar, but cute nonetheless. They were almost the size of Tigress' in comparison to the size of their heads, but the ends were slightly rounded instead of at a point. Yet the ends held little tiny tufts at the highest points. The child looked up at Po, and it had a face of confusion and utter astonishment. Po laughed under his breath.

"Well hi there, kiddo. Guess who I am?", Po whispered, and gently rubbed his nose against the little one's nose. When Po retreated his nose, the baby's nose twitched and he let out a small sneeze. Which coincidentally smacked Po with a little snot. Po had an almost blank look on his face, save for the smile, until Jiu-Ne handed him a hankerchief."Thanks.", he whispered, then softly wiped the baby's nose and mouth before wiping his own chest off,"Guess I had that one comin'.", he chuckled, but then allowed his smile to lower as he looked at the baby again. He took a deep breath and softly pulled away some of the cloth to see the child's body.

"Wait.", whispered Jiu-Ne as she put her paw over Po's to stop him. The tiger gave him a look of concern. Po looked back determinedly.

"I have to see for myself.", Jiu-Ne's ears laid back, and she withdrew her paw. Po continued to gently remove the cloth and slowly his eyes saddened. But he dare not let his smile disappear fully as to not scare his son. There was a deep scar that could be easily seen from the lack of fur around the old wounds. It began under the baby's left arm, and trailed along it's side until it wrapped around to the front of his left thigh and stopped just below his knee. Upon further inspection, Po noticed that a small gash was visible on his son's left shoulder, and it apparently continued onto his back.

Po sighed and wrapped his child back up.

"Does Tigress know about this?", he asked quietly.

"Yes, Po, I do.", said a weak voice.

Po looked over at her and smiled. He kissed his son on the forehead and gently handed him over to Jiu-Ne before sitting on the bed at Tigress' side. He held her paw in his and gave her a soft kiss,"How ya feeling?"

Tigress scoffed a bit,"To be honest, like I just gave birth to a cannonball."

Po put his other arm around her and kissed her forehead,"Well it's over now. And look at what you made. A beautiful boy."

"What _we _made, Po.", she said with both of her paws now holding his and her mouth holding a smile for her husband.

His lips formed a smirk,"Oh really? Because you were acting like you were doing me a favor a few hours ago."

"Oh please, that was just the labor pains talking.", she said with rolling eyes.

"I'm holding you to that, y'know."

Before Tigress could talk back, there was a knock on the door. Followed by Master Shifu opening said door just enough to poke his head through."Excuse me, Tigress, but Viper and Mantis wish to come see you and the child."

"It's Viper and Mantis, of course they can come in.", she said in a curt manner.

Shifu nodded and opened the door a little wider so that the snake and bug could enter.

"And Koru?", asked Po dryly, for he already knew the answer.

"He says that he just wished for news on how Tigress was doing. And once I said she was fine, he left for the Imperial City for a meeting with Kugi and his construction team."

Po rolled his eyes and nodded.

Song rubbed her eyes with her fingers from the long night that had ensued. She stood and stretched before patting Po on the back, making he, and by extension Tigress look at her,"Congratulations, you two. You're going to make a great father.", she spoke with a smile before walking towards the door.

Tigress smirked,"And what about me?"

Song stopped, turned around, and smirked back,"You just focus on getting rid of that pregnancy fat for now.", she turned back to the door and opened it wide enough for her to leave as Shifu stepped away from the door to sit by a small table. Viper had now slithered up to Tigress to give her sister a congratulatory hug while Mantis had hopped onto Saisei's shoulder and started making silly faces at the baby.

"By the way, have Crane and Mei Ling sent a letter saying when they'll be coming back? They really should see this cute little thing.", Saisei said in baby talk at this last sentence while smiling at her 'brother'.

"The last letter I sent to them was last week when we found out Tigress would have an early prengancy date. They sent a letter stating that they would come post haste. This was five days ago.", Shifu sighed, leaning on his staff with a shaking head at the floor,"Sometimes I wonder why they do it."

"With all due respect Master Shifu, what did you expect?", asked Mantis. Everyone else gave a small nod at this.

_Flashback: Six Months Ago_

_"Look. I saw it, okay? And we need to get confirmation.", said Crane as he looked around at the others who all sat or laid in the general infirmary room where they had all been treated for their wounds, which some were still far from being healed._

_Po, who was sitting in his bed with his back against the wall, began to get up. Tigress and Saisei stood up at this, now standing on either side of him._

_"Po, be careful...", said Tigress with a look of worry._

_"Don't worry, I will be alright.", he said in an insuring tone while slowly standing up, making Tigress sit down rubbing her slightly plump abdomen. Everyone else looked at the panda. But he had his main focus on Crane,"Listen, you have to understand that this isn't exactly easy to believe. I mean Moeru said it herself, she killed all of the villagers."_

_"That doesn't mean squat, and you know it!", replied Mei Ling,"She's a liar and a murderer. No offense, Saisei."_

_"None taken.", shrugged the liger._

_"That's exactly right, Mei Ling, she's a murderer. I've already grieved for my dad's death once, so forgive me if I don't want to risk doing it again because you saw some old guy who, by the way, you didn't even bring here!", yelled Po._

_"I couldn't bring him here because he was almost deathly ill, he couldn't make the trip! And even if I brought him here, he may have died before we arrived. Then it would just be me carrying a dead guy with me and with nothing else to go on but my word! Which is exactly what I'm doing now, only difference is I didn't kill the guy!", shouted Crane with a glare._

_"So let me get this straight. You are saying that you saw Mr. Hao limping around in the Bo Qua province?", asked Shifu, who was continually rubbing his head from all of this arguing._

_"Yes, Master Shifu. But that wasn't all I saw.", he glanced at the panda before turning to the Grandmaster,"Master Shifu. She has destroyed the Jade Palace."_

_"What do you mean, destroyed?", shouted Shifu in outrage, trying to ignore his throbbing headache._

_"Torn down, burnt to a crisp, and ashes stomped on. Nothing left there but a bunch of black soot on dirt and cracked stone.", stated Mei Ling bluntly with her counting fingers and crossing arms._

_Master Shifu sat down from this news and stared at the floor with his eyes wider than ever. Everyone else was no better off, for no one could speak. No one except the idiot in the corner who was covered in bandages._

_"Bitch.", squeaked the figure weakly while laying in his bed, but then began to instantly cough hard._

_"Hun, please don't talk. Your ribs are too damaged, you shouldn't even be alive right now.", said Yunwei sadly as she wiped his forehead with a rag._

_Song rubbed the bridge of her nose,"And where, may I ask, is Shiro? Did you at least find him when you went to get our things in Kirokuyoru?", she asked, sitting in a chair by the opening that should have been the fourth wall to the room. It infact led outside to the pathway that was surrounded by railings, and the path itself surrounded the entire building._

_Crane shook his head,"No. And believe you me, we asked plenty of people."_

_Shifu clearned his throat to move the conversation along to the aforementioned topic,"So as I have not been the most active master lately, I trust some of you know where Moeru may or may not be hiding as of late? After all, we cannot abandon Monkey to his fate."_

_"Why don't you find her yourself, you were the one being controlled by her!", spat Tigress._

_"I might ask you the same question, 'Seikaku'!", snapped the red panda._

_Tigress growled under her breath and gripped the sheet of Po's bed that she had been laying her paw on._

_"As I have said, she can hide her Chi signature. It is almost impossible to find someone with that ability!"_

_"Alright, enough! All this yelling isn't getting us anywhere.", said Po. He limped over to Crane and sighed, putting the paw of his uninjured right arm on Crane's shoulder,"I'm sorry for doubting you. When will you be leaving?"_

_"Po they have just returned, you cannot ask-", Shifu was interuppted by Crane._

_"Tommorow morning. Sorry Master, but as you said we can't let Monkey stay bound to Moeru."_

_"I'm coming too.", said Mei Ling._

_"No, you need to stay here."_

_"Why?", Mei Ling crossed her arms and glared at the bird._

_"This isn't another scouting mission, we might actually run into Moeru's army, or Hikage, or even worse Moeru herself!"_

_"Oh and like you'll stand a chance by yourself if you run into either of them.", scoffed the mountain cat._

_"Well-I just...just stay here.", Crane said walking away._

_"Please, you'd die without me there to protect you.", teased Mei Ling as she walked passed him with an elbow to his side. The two walked out of the room with Crane sighing a 'fine'._

_Two Months Later_

_Po and Song were sitting at a small table playing Mah Jong, and Song was quite honestly kicking Po's ass. They were sitting on the balcony since it was such a beautiful day out, and Tigress needed the fresh air anyways. Though she was merely sunbathing on a cot they brought out and had already fallen asleep._

_"Ughh!", sighed Po in frustration as he noticed his most recent mistake,"Can I take my turn back?"_

_"Sorry Po, you know the rules. You only get five 'take backs' per game.", said Song with a small smirk. Po almost pouted._

_"Fine.", he continued to watch as Song made her move, then started strategizing on his own turn. Suddenly, something popped into his head. He hid a smile, yet you could still tell from the formation of his lips,"So Song, have you given any thought to any other suiters?"_

_The snow leopardess blinked as she was taken aback from this question. But she quickly regained the previously lost composure and shrugged while looking out at the canyon. Her eyelids lowered some once she started to daydream in her stare at the giant forest below,"I don't know...maybe. I mean, with Shiro...", she inhaled inaudibly and slid her left paw over the top of her head, flipping her left ear back to lay inside out on her fur. But given her present thinking she wasn't paying much attention,"It was just too crazy. Things moved too fast too soon and look what happened.", she shook her head and kept staring for a few moments, but blinked a little when Po hadn't said anything,"Po, are you even listening t-", she stopped once she noticed the board and looked at the panda who had switched a few pieces around. She stared at him with twitching whiskers,"You're kidding me, right?"_

_Po rolled his eyes with a smile and put the pieces back where they belonged,"Well anyways, I understand what you mean. You need someone you've known for a while, whose not a complete social case. Am I right?"_

_"Partly, I guess.", she said while leaning on her cheek into her left paw as her left elbow leaned on the railings. Once Po had moved the pieces back, she made her own move._

_"What do you mean-?", he was interuppted once a shadow passed over the balcony. He looked up and yelped, making Tigress wake up with a start._

_"What? What is it!", shouted Tigress, looking around._

_"Song, go get a doctor, quick!", said Po as he began to climb the railings while Song stood and ran back inside. Tigress ran over and stopped the panda with one paw on his shoulder and the other on her noticably larger stomach._

_"Po, what are you doing, are you crazy!"_

_"Ti, Crane is hurt!", he exclaimed, pointing to the bird who lay on a cliff not a few meters away with Mei Ling kneeling beside him holding her bleeding arm. Tigress looked over with worry, and nodded to the panda that immediately leapt from the railings._

_Po's eyes glinted a shine as his muscles tensed in preparation for impact,"Mei Ling! Is he still alive!", he asked screaming into the wind._

_Mei Ling called back,"Yeah, but he's hurt pretty bad!", she sobbed out the last couple of words and looked at Crane, the pain in her arm making her too weak to hold back a few tears. Po landed behind them, using all his control to keep the majority of his weight from making the small cliff give way._

_Mei Ling merely glanced behind her at the Dragon Warrior as Po walked around them to inspect their wounds. Crane's wings were perfectly fine, but he had many cuts in his torso and a few stab wounds in his abdomen. His right shin had been basically snapped in half and some patches of feathers from the bird's body were now gone. Mei Ling herself was sporting a nicely broken elbow that had been bent back, and two shurikens were sticking out of her shoulder._

_"Will you be okay long enough for me to take Crane to the hospital and come back to get you?", asked Po sternly._

_"Yes! Just take him back!", yelled Mei Ling._

_Po quickly hoisted Crane over his shoulder at her words, making Crane groan a little in his state of pain. Po nodded to the cat and flashed his eyes briefly before jumping up high back to the balcony. Po quickly laid Crane onto the stretcher that had been waiting there and jumped back over to grab Mei Ling. When he arrived, Mei Ling had passed out leaning back against the wall of stone._

_Hours later, once Crane and Mei Ling were on the mend..._

_"How are you, Master Crane? Master Mei Ling?", asked Shifu once the rest had arrived for the meeting. They were all sitting at a large table set up especially for them since they were staying here for such a long time, and the room of their meeting was infact the hospital director's dingy yet spacious office. Crane and Mei Ling, with limbs bandaged and cast, and wounds sewn shut and treated, sat at the left side of the table with Master Shifu. On the right side of the table, sitting from closest to farthest from the door, was a light brown furred wolf with blue eyes, Shiro, Koru, Tigress and Po._

_"We're fine, Master Shifu.", said Crane dejectedly and a little ashamed._

_"Good, I began to worry. Now we have called this meeting to debrief you on your previous mission. How were you injured?"_

_"We found Hikage.", stated Crane._

_"And?", asked Po without missing a beat._

_Crane looked from Shifu to Po,"Well we defeated her, but just barely. And when she saw that we were starting to break her down she called on a few troops to come save her. We couldn't get out of that hotel fast enough, so we paid for it with these injuries."_

_"And my dad?"_

_Mei Ling let out a soft, exasperated breath of sadness,"Po we're so sorry. But your dad...we found him too.", she lowered her ears when Po's eyes watered up. And he stood at the table._

_"You saw his body? Tell me you saw his actual body because if you didn't-"_

_"Po!"_

_Po looked at the now standing Tigress beside him and softened his angry features. He shut his eyes and turned back to the two injured ones,"I'm sorry guys. I just didn't want to accept it. Again!", he said while gently slamming his fist into the table with the last word and began to weep silently. Tigress rubbed his back as she looked at Koru with a nod, making the white tiger close his eyes. He shifted in his seat with the help of his cane and almost grunted from the pain in his chest._

_"And what of the Kimeru family?", asked Koru with a relieved sigh from the fading pain. The wolf at the end looked at the closed door whilst gripping the end of his right armrest._

_"No, we couldn't find them. Most of the troops Hikage had with her were dock people and fishermen.", said Crane._

_"Your efforts have been made up of mostly failures. Though I do not say you have not acted honorably, I would suggest that we stop this search. At least until everyone has healed.", said Shifu._

_"No.", stated Po. He wiped his eyes and looked Shifu dead in the eye in defiance._

_"No? And why not, panda?", asked Shifu in a cold tone, for he was now becoming agitated at Po's acting leadership._

_"Because Tigress will be close to giving birth at that time, and I will not leave her side. So the search efforts would take longer. We also need to continue our rebuilding and focus on that, Mantis still has students to teach as well, and-", he then glanced at the other males at this side of the table,"and there are many other matters that must be dealt with first. If we cannot do this with all of our efforts, we will not do it at all!"_

_"That is proposterous, time is of the essence!", retorted Shifu while smacking his paw on the table._

_"Yes, it is. But Moeru cannot ressurect Bokyaku until the Summer Solstice anyway, so we should build our efforts around a plan that focuses on where we know she will be! Now that's the end of it!", said Po. Tigress let out an involuntary purr at Po's show of authority. Shifu made a soft groan of disgust and hopped out of his seat before walking out the door._

_End Of Flashback_

The panda and tiger hugged each other once Jiu-Ne left the room, leaving the two alone with their now sleeping baby. The couple had been staring at the crib in the corner with a mixture of pride, happiness, and anxiety.

"Well...", said Po with a deep sigh. He looked at Tigress, who looked back.

"Yeah...", she responded, nuzzling her head into the panda's chest,"Should we tell him?"

Po shook his head,"No. Prophecys are a fickle thing, you and I both know that all too well. Besides...I think he already knows.", he said while looking at the seat where Master Shifu had been sitting. Tigress nodded and shut her eyes.

"Goodnight, daddy.", she said with an unavoidable smile.

"See when you say it, it just sounds dirty."

Tigress laughed softly and shook her head,"Just go to sleep, you idiot."

"Yes, mommy.", Po said in a teasing voice as his eyes closed.

A minute passed in silence.

"That sounded dirty too.", murmured Tigress as she drifted off to sleep.

"I know.", whispered Po wearily before following his wife.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Simpleton Blues_

Po yawned and rubbed his eyes after he awoke again, not suprised that the sun had yet to come up. He sat up alone in the hospital bed and looked over at his wife, who was now holding her child and had her back to him. As she felt him come closer, she spoke.

"I don't know what to do, Po. He won't cry, or laugh, or coo...this is so strange. He didn't even cry when he was born or even after Shifu smacked his rear. I'm worried."

Po shrugged as he put his arm around her,"So he won't show any emotion, he _is _your son after all."

Tigress gave him a glare to show him that she was far from amused,"This is serious, Po. If he doesn't cry, his lungs will not develop properly.", she said while looking back down at her baby who was currently suckling.

"Well at least he's eating."

"Of course he's eating, he _is _your son after all.", stated Tigress with a small hint of sarcasm.

"Ha, ha, ha.", said Po dryly."You know very well that I've lost plenty of weight since we first met."

"I know, Po...", sighed Tigress,"But like I said, I worry about him. Is this part of Moeru's curse? I don't even want to think about what other symptoms may come...", she tensed up at this thought.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Ti. If it makes you feel any better, we'll ask Saisei to look him over. With the Emperor's mystics allowing her to go into the libraries now, she may find out what this might be.", Tigress did not respond, just nodded."Good, then it's settled. Now go get some sleep, the sun will be up soon."

"Agreed.", said Tigress as she withdrew her child from her breast and gave the baby a gentle nuzzle, allowing a purr to emmit to her child."I love you, son. Never forget that.", she sighed softly and handed him to Po, then buttoned up her loose blue tunic and walked back to bed as Po put a small towel over his shoulder and started to burp their son.

She fell asleep to the comforting sound of their baby making a hiccup like sound, and Po making a small groaning sound.

Once the sun had made it's appearance, the tiger opened her eyes. She sat up and looked around to determine that she was alone, and panicked inside when neither Po or their child were in the room. The feline shot out of bed and rushed to the door to swing it open. No one in the hallway either.

"Hello?", she called out loudly, for her panic was beginning to soar. When she received no answer, Tigress ran down the hall looking back and forth at the different hallways, which were all empty. She ran through the front double doors and stopped when she saw Koru leaning on the railings by the stairs and looking out at the valley. He wore a black vest with red inseams and a pair of wheat brown slacks. There was a feint road where grass had grown over that led across the almost empty fields of green that was the valley he looked over. In the far off distance there was a giant city molded out of the side of a mountain easily seen from this distance.

Tigress walked over to Koru and grabbed his arm, tugging him around to face her,"Where are they?"

Koru jerked away and looked back out at the valley, leaning on the railings again,"Relax, everyone is at the Imperial CIty right now. Po told me to stay behind until you woke up so that I could escort you."

"He took the baby with him?", she said with a quizzical look on her face.

The white tiger nodded and continued his stare at the mid point where there sat a large structure in mid construction,"The new palace is coming along nicely."

Tigress leaned on the rail as well at Koru's right and grunted softly in recognition of his comment. She watched the few workers hammering away and carrying a number of wooden planks and stone slabs,"So how are you feeling?"

"Aren't _I _supposed to be asking _you _that question?", he responded with a subtly raised brow.

"Yes, but you're being a selfish brother right now and acting like a complete basket case.", she said hitting him in the arm. He showed a small smirk for a second and rubbed the spot where she hit him.

"I am at my wit's end. It has been five months since...", he closed his eyes with great pressure and rubbed his long yet stubby fingers over the markings on his forehead. He opened his eyes again, and to Tigress' surprise, he turned and looked straight at her,"What am I supposed to do?"

Tigress showed a frown of sympathy and laid a gripping paw on his shoulder,"You need to move on. It may be bitter to think about, but you will be better off soon enough."

Koru scoffed a little and scratched his left ear by pressing his forefinger and thumb in almost a pinch. He turned back to the scenery, apparently dismissing her idea.

"I'm serious. Perhaps there is someone in the Imperial City. In fact, come on.", she gently pushed the white tiger towards the stairs, and he reluctantly complied as they began their descent."I have to make sure the baby is fed anyway."

Koru fought his urge to growl at being told to walk, but he had to take her to the city anyways so the white tiger forced himself past the feeling of stubborness,"Any idea what to name the child?"

"Either Kicho or Kenka-Suru. Though Po wants to call him Ya Kaji.", she shook her head and rolled her eyes with a look to her right, away from her brother.

"Interesting...but is Kicho not the equivilent to naming him after Po?"

"Yes, it is. But I want him to be his own person, and he cannot acheive that if he is simply named 'Po, Jr.'.", stated Tigress as they reached the bottom of the stairs and found the grassy floor.

"I see.", nodded the male, and he glanced at his sister as she already looked tired from her walking,"If you wish I can carry you there."

"No, I think not. I must get used to training again and, as Song stated, I need to get rid of this pregnancy fat.", she said with a grimace once she poked her stomach that held a ridge of flab over her muscluar abs.

Koru's ears perked up slightly,"She said that? How astute of her."

Tigress gave her brother a look of intrigue, tapping his arm lightly with the back of her paw to get his attention. He looked at her, but she just continued her stare.

"What?"

"You know what. I have _never _heard you compliment _anyone _except for Po, and you barely did that.", she had a small smile.

"So? I simply made a statement pertaining to her ability to observe obvious facts.", he turned back towards their path as they continued to walk, now passing the construction site.

"Ah, so you were being sarcastic.", she raised a brow, not believing him for a second.

"Of course.", snapped Koru.

There was a silence for a minute until Tigress looked at Koru again with bared fangs.

"Hey, wait just one damn minute! Are you calling me fat?", she growled.

"What? No!", he looked into the distance in thought and blinked,"Oh. I suppose I did."

"I think I'll be getting an even better work out this October morn, do you not think brother?", growled Tigress with clenched fists. Koru took a step back.

"Er...well, you know uh...", he glanced at the Imperial City doors in the distance,"To be fair you'll have to catch me first!", he took off on all fours, followed closely by his sibling.

Tigress had already began panting from her lack of energy, and she almost cursed the day Po had gotten her pregnant,"Get back here, Koru!"

"No way, I'm not getting my ass kicked!", he shouted back as his paws started tearing away at the yellow, brown and red leaves that were on the ground, for they were now entering the small forest fortress; the first line of defense against enemies of the Emperor.

"Get...get back...", she slowed down into a full stop and sat there on her paws and knees, panting hard in her position.

Koru skidded to a stop, making a small cloud of dirt kick up as he slid his feet around and kept his paw on the ground to keep him steady as he slid around to the opposite direction. He ran back to Tigress and knelt at her side,"Are you alright?"

It took the female a minute to respond with words, yet she nodded her head,"I...I just need...to rest..."

Koru sighed through his nostrils and squated in front of her, motioning for her to get on his back. She shook her head.

"No...I need...to do this by myself..."

"Your son needs to eat. _You _need to eat, that is why you are so weak.", stated the white one.

Reluctantly Tigress climbed onto Koru's back and clung to his neck. He grabbed her legs and stood, and with great haste he ran for the gates as fast as he could. Koru scanned every inch of the groud that was this forest and began to run to the right and to the left at different times. At one point he jumped and spun. Soon they began to come up to the gates.

The guards at the gate saw the two tigers coming, and both rhinos crossed their long spears in front of the giant doors.

"Halt!", stated a rhino as Koru stopped,"Who comes here, and passes through the defenses of our forest with nary a scratch?"

"Someone who knows the secret triggers, you imbecile! Are you new here or something? This is the Dragon Warrior's wife, and I, her brother!", spat Koru.

"If you are who you say you are,", said the other in a cold tone,"you will have no problem reciting the-"

"_Oka toru, __**nikumu **__toru! Tekko toru are mon kochira!_", shouted Koru with venom in his voice from their stupidity. The two withdrew their spears in an instant and the doors began to open.

Koru huffed a breath of aggrivation right in one of the rhino's faces before continuing into the city. Once inside, you could see the many homes and stores all about. In truth it was much like Gongmen City in design, yet the buildings all led uphill. And they became larger and taller the higher up Koru treaded.

Finally at their destination, the tigers stopped and Koru set his sister down.

"Many thanks, brother.", said Tigress as she entered the sage's temple, followed by the silent taller tiger.

They stood in the open doorway and scanned the front room to see where they might find anyone they recognised, for there was a fair amount of people here praying to shrines, burning incense and speaking at each other in quiet debate. The place was very beautiful. The floors were made out of wood, of course, the walls were painted green, there were golden statues in the columns that stood around the walls, and the ceiling ran very high; almost thirty feet. Tigress noticed the snake sitting coiled on a bench on the right of a door covered in curtains and waved at her. Viper waved back and motioned for them to come over. But that was easier said than done.

The Kung Fu masters slid and sidled their way through the crowds of people who decided that they would not pay any attention to celebrities today. Which is how the tigers preferred it right now, but they still wished for the crowds to clear.

Eventually though, the two made it across to find the smiling snake.

"Good morning, Tigress.", she said cheerily.

"Morning. Where is Po, and our son?", Tigress replied.

"Oh, they're upstairs. Po is having Saisei and the mystics study your baby for any curses."

Viper frowned when Tigress failed in her attempt to hide a groan.

"What's wrong?", Viper asked, trying to meet Tigress' current stare at the floor.

"Ashamed though I am to admit it, I am very hungry. And weak.", she mumbled the last part.

"Oh sister, that is perfectly natural. And I guess Po knew what he was doing when he had food delivered here. Then again, this is Po we're talking about.", giggled Viper as she slithed in through the curtains followed by the tigers. There in front of the door was a flight of stairs that rounded to another flight of stairs, and another, and another, and another...

When Tigress finished a mental check of how many floors their were, she inwardly sighed,"Twenty-four floors? Viper, please tell me Po is not at the top.", she asked as they walked and slithered up.

Viper unleashed a gentle laugh,"Oh come on, even with your old powers back Po hates stairs. He's on the fifth floor. I'm surprised you couldn't sense him."

"I would if I did not suspect that I may pass out from just using that small amount of energy.", she mumbled shamefully.

They walked up to the fifth floor. Viper opened the lone door on this side of the floor and allowed Tigress to walk inside. She looked at the white tiger when he did not follow,"Koru? Aren't you coming?"

He shifted his weight a little,"Magic makes me...erm, uneasy...", he said, unsheathing and resheathing his claws in uncomfortablity.

Viper nodded,"Alright. Go and get some breakfast, then. Do you have any money?", when Koru shook his head, Viper smiled,"Okay, well Jiu-Ne is on the tenth floor, she should have some. And Song is on the roof.", she said with a small glint in her eye as she turned away.

"W-wait, why should I care if-", he started, but the snake did not make any signs that she had heard him. And even though they both knew she had heard him perfectly well, Koru took the sign that she did not want to continue a conversation and started to continue going up the stairs.

Once he found the tenth floor, he stopped at the door marked 'beginners mage classes'. He looked up at the gap between the many flights of stairs and sighed with his sister's words buzzing in his head.

_"You need to move on."_

Koru closed his eyes and sat on the third step leading up to the eleventh floor for a minute.

_Flashback: Five and a half Months ago_

_"How could you do this to me!", shouted the tiger with pain in his eyes at the wolf in front of him; the pouring rain that drenched them both hid his many tears, so he had no fear of shedding them at this time._

_The thunder clapped in the brightened sky above, shadowing the bowed head of the white furred wolf,"Koru...please...understand."_

_"I understand that you said we would be together! FOREVER! We have magic with us now, there is no need-"_

_"She wants an answer before sunrise, Koru! And unless Saisei can bring them all here within four hours, there's nothing anyone can do!", sobbed Yunwei._

_"How long has she had a hold on you?", he growled. When Yunwei did not answer, he limped closer, now only a few feet away from her and making her step back slightly towards a broken gap in the stone railings of the abandoned hospital,"I asked you how long!"_

_"W-when she took away my family! I'm sorry, Koru...", she sobbed harder, shaking her head as she kept backing up,"I'm so sorry..."_

_Koru limped towards her again,"Please, I beg of you!"_

_Yunwei shut her eyes tightly and shook her head violently,"Tell my brothers I love them..."_

_The tiger's eyes widened as the wolf leaned back more. He lunged at her to stop her, but she fell back before he could reach. He screamed in agony as he outstretched his arm and watched her fall and disappear into the dark abyss of the canyon._

_Koru clung to the rail and roared as loud as he could at the angel of death that now feasted on his heart._

_End of Flashback_

Koru sat there on the step with his head in his paws. He kept staring at the floor, holding his tears back like he did every time he thought about that gruesome night.

"Son?", said a soft voice. He did not look up.

"What?", he asked in a voice quieter than a whisper. He felt his mother sit beside him and he tensed his body up more than before.

"Are you alright?", Jiu-Ne asked, rubbing her son's muscular arm.

He shut his eyes and managed to inhale deeply, then exhale his shuddered breath,"May I ask you something?", when Jiu-Ne nodded, he continued,"When...when Ko-Ri died...did...how did you get over it?"

Jiu-Ne showed an ironic and bitter smile with a shaking head,"Never did.", this made Koru look directly at her. She looked down, still maintaining her small smile and nodding,"I still miss him dearly to this very day. And...it kills me to not be around him. And what scares me the most is...", her smile had faded as she stared at her leg,"I'm unsure if I remember what he looked like anymore..."

Koru frowned even more so,"So there is no hope?", he said in more of a statement.

Jiu-Ne looked at her son and smiled again, and with a small laugh she rubbed his back,"Oh sweetie, there is always hope. At least for you, you're still young. You will find many other women in this world who would be thrilled to be with a man like you. Though between you and me I think you should pitch a tent closer to our kind."

Koru actually smirked and allowed a scoff-like laugh, but it did not last,"But...she was perfect, mother. Down to the last detail."

"Koru, no one is perfect. And if you want my opinion...", she held an uncertain look in her eyes, awaiting for Koru until he looked at her again and gave a small nod of approval,"Yunwei was a little too...stuck up. She was picky, she had no spine, and she had _way _too many outfits."

Koru slid his paw over his ear and sighed, nodding a little,"So what you are saying is...I need someone a little more...unrefined?"

"Well that wouldn't exactly be my choice of words, but...yeah.", she closed her eyes and shrugged before she opened them again with raised eyebrows at the last word.

The son nodded and stood,"Thank you."

"Hey, it's my job.", smiled Jiu-Ne as she followed. Suddenly they blinked when Koru's stomach growled.

He held a paw over his abdomen and scrunched his cheek."Apologies, mother. I hate to ask you for something when you've just finished giving me such advice, but.."

"Oh I'm sorry, honey, I'm broke at the moment. Why don't you get some from Kugi?"

"That old boar always gives me a hard time, mother. The only reason I put up with him is because he is a good worker.", said Koru.

"Weeellll...", she glanced upward and smiled at Koru, who frowned once more.

"I...I think I can put up with Kugi just this once.", he said, then he hugged his mother and walked back downstairs.

Jiu-Ne let a laugh under her breath echo in the stairways. She shook her head and whispered,"Such a stubborn child."

Koru heard her laugh, and flinched a little as he knew exactly what that laugh meant.

The white tiger walked out of the building and made his way down the street towards the common houses. Unaware that he was being watched by two blue eyes from the top of the building he had just exited from.

Song sat there on the slanted roof of the tower with her elbows on her knees staring down. She watched the tiger stroll through the crowds like the kingly man he was and-

Song shook her head and growled."Damn it, do you want to go through that again?", the snow leopardess sighed as she was unable to keep from staring,"Well...maybe if...", she said under her breath.

"Maybe if what?", said an old voice, making her jump.

"Oh, it's you.", Song said with a sigh and a paw on her chest,"Give a girl a warning, would ya?", she said looking back down at the street. Shifu sat beside her with the old staff hugged to his body.

"I am sorry that my son put you through this, Ms. Song. But you cannot be so wary when it comes to love just because of one bad experience.", he stated.

"Shifu, drop the 'miss' talk. It's just Song."

"I like to keep things formal, just as you should be referring to me as 'Master Shifu'.", he said calmly.

She shrugged,"Sorry, but I'm no Kung Fu student. And even if I was, you're not my master. So the way I see it, you're just a kind old man with some badass moves in my eyes.", Shifu's ear twitched. But then he laughed.

"I can see your logic, Ms. Song, but in this subject only. Might I trouble you with some advice?", he said looking at her. When she closed her eyes and shrugged after crossing her arms over her raised knees and resting her head on her arms, he continued,"You brought out what was the kindest time I have ever seen in Tai Lung, and I include his time as a child. You have a talent, Ms. Song. And it should not go to waste when it is so readily needed."

She rubbed her eyes,"Well I can't argue with that. But you've got to understand, that was lust, not love, Shifu."

"Perhaps you are right. But I do not think that it was your...shall we say 'actions', that made Tai Lung so at peace. Your talents rely on the unspoken, Ms. Song. The unspoken, pure, unfadable aura that you keep. And for that, I thank you for being with my son in his trials."

The two kept in silence while Song collected her thoughts.

_Flashback: Five Months Ago_

_"Master Oogway, are you certain?", asked the red panda with a large smile on his face, the leopards behind him showing mixed feelings. With one showing excitement and the other showing regret._

_"I am most certain, Shifu. Tai Lung's reason for living again is being fulfilled as we speak. He will go with the monks to hone the great knowledge he has learned with the Soothsayer, and turn it to wisdom. And once this happens he will be worthy of becoming the Channeler; the great monk who keeps the Spirit World and the Physical Realm from falling together to create complete chaos."_

_Despite this ominous last word, Tai Lung was ecstatic."I will do my best to honor my father and master by completing these trials.", he stated with a bow._

_"And where does that leave me?", said Song with her arms crossed, showing a look of annoyance._

_"Child, do not be fearful of attachments breaking away. It is a requirment that must be faced if he is to pass. And for your sacrifice the gods will bless you.", said Oogway in his glowing figure._

_"Funny you mention attachments. I was really starting to get used to you, Shiro. And I...I could have even...", the female turned her back to the male, leaving him to frown softly._

_"I am sorry, Song. But I have wished to make up for my wrongdoings since the day that I turned on my father. And to be the Channeler...it is more of an honor I could have ever dreamed of!", he said with enthusiasm._

_"Fine. Just go...go on to your sage's slumphouse, or whatever it's called."_

_Tai Lung hugged her from behind,"Song, I truly am sorry. And I thank you for all that you've done for me. You put me at peace whenever I was around you. For a long while I wasn't sure how, but when Hikage took your soul...I knew. You have such a wonderful soul, Song, that it made my heart float away from my own personal darkness. Thank you, Song. Thank you..."_

_And with that Song felt him let go. And she heard him leave with Shifu out of the hospital to leave for the Imperial City. Song refused to move from her spot. And would not until she was sure that the old turtle that took her Shiro away had left._

_End of Flashback_

Song looked at Shifu, and smiled. She stood up and bowed to the master, who returned the bow once he too got to his feet.

"What shall I tell my son?", he asked.

"Tell him...tell him his attachment is no longer attached anymore.", she said before jumping down the sunroof and running down the stairs.

Shifu shook his head and laughed,"So free spirited..."

_Back with Tigress_

She sighed in relief as she relaxed on her pillow in her kneeling position at the low standing table,"I swear, if this baby did not need me to provide any milk, I would never eat so much.", she grumbled.

Viper rolled her eyes,"As I've said, it's natural sis."

"Perhaps...", said the tiger as she stood,"but that doesn't make it any less unsettling."

The two walked and slithered over to the table where Po stood beside their son as Saisei stood on the other side chanting. Tigress walked up beside Po and joined him as they looked down at their boy, who just looked at his parents with a blank stare.

"Saisei...will he be alright?", asked the mother as she kept her worried look. Po put his paw in hers and gripped gently.

Saisei finished her chanting for now and looked at the two,"Well, I can say this...mom definitely put a curse on him, that much is certain.", she sighed, crossing her arms and massaging the bridge of her snout,"Problem is, I can't figure out what _type _of curse it is. I already checked to see if it was somehow related to the poison she put in you, Tigress, but that came up with zilch."

"What about emotional curses? That seems to be the most likely anway...", suggested Po.

Saisei scratched the back of her head and turned around to look at the many scrolls provided for her. She scanned around with her other paw running along the shelves,"Okay, problem with _that _is...mom is an expert at emotional curses, she knows the deepest, darkest secrets ever thought of in regards to altering people's minds and how they percieve the world around them. So for all we know, your baby might be looking at us like we're some sort of weird creatures he's never encountered before. Which is true for all newborns, but other babies still cry and laugh and show emotion, at least to their parents.", she paused, then flinched at that thought,"Oooh...", she exclaimed in a cringe and slid out a scroll.

"What? What is it?", asked Tigress as she almost shot beams of anxiousness into the back of Saisei's head. Her anxious feeling was prolonged when Saisei's ears dropped low.

"Uh...I think...mom might have...", she turned around and showed her feelings of sympathy and sorrow for the two. Tigress and Po looked at each other, then back at Saisei.

"Saisei, it's alright. We can take it. Whatever it is, we'll do what it takes to help our baby.", said Po.

Saisei nodded and released her bitten lip,"Do you know how babies are born?"

The two before her showed a look of awkwardness. She facepalmed.

"Not the physical aspect, but the spiritual! Like I would be dullminded enough to ask that!", she said in an anggravated growl.

"Sorry. Please continue.", said Tigress.

Saisei sighed and opened up the scroll in her paws, laying it down on the table beside the baby. The drawings on the scroll showed three circles; one made up of five dragons, one made up on three, and one made up of two. below the three circles was a yin yang symbol with four strange symbols at the polar points.

"You see when the gods create a soul, they bestow upon it the five basic emotions; love, hate, lust, freedom, and faith. All other emotions are taught into the soul after it is born, and depending on how the soul has matured depends on how much of each emotion is taught, creating sub emotions like jealousy, greed, joy, and bliss."

Not liking where this was going, the two nodded for her to continue, now focused completely on watching their child and listening to Saisei speak. Viper coiled around herself tightly on the table.

"Now once the basic emotions are given, it moves on to another stage; the knowledge stage. It is here where the soul is bestowed the gift to have a thirst for knowledge. The good,", she pointed to the first dragon that made up the right side of the circle,"the bad,", she then pointed to the left sided dragon,"and the neutral logical.", she pointed to the center dragon that circled itself,"And just as before, depending on how the soul is raised depends on how the soul determines what is right, what is wrong, and what is logical in life."

"Okay...", said Po as he began to understand the process.

"The soul then enters the final stage, the stage most people know of; the physical stage. It is here and here alone that the soul's development is influenced before birth, and it's physical body takes shape and form depending on what it's parents look like,", she gestured to the two dragons.

"Okay so if that is the final stage, then what does this signify aside from balance? And what of the symbols around it?", the tiger pointed to the yin yang symbol.

"It represents the completed soul. The symbols that surround it are the four basic elements; earth, fire, water, and air. You see, it is a requirement, ever since the dawn of time, for these four elements to be ever present in each body for a soul to take form in the Physical Realm. It was said in the beginning,'Of this earth, I give you flesh. Of this fire, I give you hunger. Of this water, I give you blood. And of this air, I give you life.'"

"So what is our problem?", asked Tigress warily.

Saisei closed her eyes to mentally prepare herself. She opened her eyes and looked at the baby,"I think mom disrupted the soul creation process. You see a soul does not enter a body until it is close to five months in it's development during pregnancy. I think mom...made some sort of filter...", she narrowed her eyes,"A screen of some sort to keep away the basic emotions. He will know right from wrong if you tell him, but he will always go back to what is logical. For instance, if you told him to save himself if you two were trapped in a burning building, he would die trying to save you because you two can have more children when he alone cannot."

Tigress shut her eyes and hid them in Po's chest. Po looked down at his boy with angry features, for their son could not feel fear. But he was simply angry at Moeru.

"What must we do?, he asked in a deadly tone.

Saisei shook her head sadly,"That's just it. You can't do anything. Souls only get a small window to enter the body, and once that window is closed anything it leaves behind would just go away. Anything short of asking the gods to...redesign his soul would be futile."

"Then it is settled...", said the red panda that walked in, followed by a man wearing a black and white robe. Tigress, Po, and Saisei looked at Shifu and the man. Viper was busy still trying to wrap her head around everything to notice,"You must go to the Spirit World and speak with the gods."

"But can't Master Oogway do it himself? Not to sound lazy, and I would do anything for my son. But would that not be simpler", asked Po.

"I have spoken to Master Oogway, and he says that his favors have been used up...to both give me another chance at life and to give me this chance to put this life to good use."said the man as he took off his hood, revealing the leopard's face underneath.

"So I must go myself.", said Po.

"_We _must go _our_selves.", said Tigress who narrowed her eyes at him.

Po rubbed his temples,"Fine. But we will need someone with a little more knowledge about the curse.", he said, and they both looked at Saisei.

"Me?", she asked with raised brows.

"Yes, you. Do you mind?", the panda asked in a hopeful smile.

Saisei rubbed the back of her neck. Never having been to the Spirit World before, she was far from eager from the rumors she'd heard. The liger sighed and shrugged,"Fine. Should be fun."

Po smiled wider and picked up his son, with Tigress hugging the panda's side and gently pressing her cheek on their son's head."We're going to get your soul completed, little guy. Don't you worry. Mom and dad will be back before you know it.", he whispered with a soft kiss on the baby's nose. Tigress smiled a little.

"I know it is still early, but we need to give him a name. He cannot just be called 'little guy' or 'kiddo' his whole life.", she giggled a little.

"No Ya Kagi?", said Po in a cringe.

Viper shook her head, Saisei laughed a bit, Shifu and Tai Lung looked at each other, and Tigress just stared.

He sighed,"Fine, what did you propose again?", he asked in a bored tone.

"Kicho or Kenka-Suru. Your choice, but _only _those choices.", she said pointing a finger in his face threateningly.

"Alright, alright. Kicho it is, then.", he smiled at the tiger, making her smile.

"Good. Now come on, we need to get ready, Po. And Kicho...", she whispered said the last sentence in a whisper to her son,"Happy birthday.", she gently rubbed her fingertip on the baby's chest, making him squirm a little.

Hours later...

The tiger, the panda, and the liger all sat in the lotus position in a triangle formation with their backs to each other. Shifu stood there in watching, as well as Viper and Tai Lung. Just before the three began to close their eyes, Jiu-Ne came running in.

"Wait!", she said desperately as the older feline burst through the doorway.

"Mother, what is it?", asked Tigress over her shoulder to look at Jiu-Ne.

Jiu-Ne tightened her paws and looked at her daughter with eyes filled with a light of determination,"Let me come with you."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: Make My Day_

The two tigers had locked eyes. For a long while it had been since the mother and daughter had actually connected like this because of Jiu-Ne's dedication to her studies, but nonetheless; Tigress knew her mother needed to do this. She looked at her mate, Po Ping, and gave him a small nudge with their connecting arms. He glanced back at her, then looked ahead once more.

"I can only bring two people at a time, Jiu-Ne. And Saisei needs to be there for knowledge on the curse, and Tigress needs to be there for...well, she won't let me go alone.", he shrugged, then flinched when he received a smack in the back of the head from Tigress. He laughed a little,"Not what I meant, hun."

Tigress closed her eyes and shook her head, hiding her smile.

"But I _need _to go to the Spirit World!", exclaimed the older tiger.

"But why, mom?", asked Po. Jiu-Ne smiled a little; Po hardly ever referred to her in such a way.

"Because I want to see Ko-Ri. Talking to Koru today has made me realize just how much I miss him...", she kept a whistful smile. Tigress almost teared up, but held them back and cleared her throat.

"Po, I have learned much. I can help you bring mother in as well.", said Tigress softly. Po nodded with an indirect stare at her out of the corner of his eye.

"It's going to be tricky. Remember; feel our Chi like they are four grapes on the same vine. And force them-"

"Across the barriers of this world and the next like you would a spear through it's target.", stated Shifu with a small smile. Tigress snarled a bit and nodded to Po before closing her eyes once more. Shifu's ears lowered, if only so slightly.

"Remember, we aren't going to the city at first. So the laws of time will change a little. We might be out from a few minutes to half an hour. So Tai Lung if we look like that we're starting to take some real damage, pull us out.", commanded the panda.

"I...will try.", Tai Lung said in a small bow. Po nodded and began to breathe slowly.

The other two shifted to give Jiu-Ne room, and sooner than they expected, the four lowered their heads limply. Viper, who was holding Kicho in her coiled body like a makeshift cradle, watched in worry.

"Be careful, guys..."

_In the Spirit World_

_Saisei opened her eyes to see that they were in an old, decrepid village completely void of life. The heat in her arms seemed to have left her, so she hugged herself from the cold and looked around. As she stood there, her pearly fangs began to click repeatedly in a shiver. She felt something warm cover her back and arms, so she looked behind her._

_There stood two tigers and..._

_"Tigress?", asked Saisei in disbelief as she saw the dragon standing there in all her glory, yet there on her chest sat a hollow version of her tiger self curled up in a ball like a pendant. Jiu-Ne jumped a little and looked at her 'daughter' nervously._

_"You two are surprised?", she asked in a stating tone once she took notice of the two's strange expressions._

_"Er...let's just...start looking for your father.", said Jiu-Ne while Po laid a cloak over her shoulders as well before she walked away from the three._

_"Right. Father. He would far from recognize me this way.", she breathed in deeply, making the hollow tiger form flow into her nostrils like smoke. Seconds later, her body turned into her feline form. Breathing out, her dragon form hollowed out through her nose and wrapped around her body in a smaller form like a sash._

_"Nice, hun. You're getting fast at that.", chuckled Po, who had not changed back to his panda body. His panda hollow form was in a tiny form on his chest._

_The three quickly caught up to Jiu-Ne and began to look around themselves._

_"Wow, what happened here?", asked Saisei as she pulled her cloak closer to her body._

_"It's a village of the dead.", said Po simply._

_"Kinda would've thought that the afterlife was a little better than this.", she mumbled nervously._

_"Don't worry, Sai', it is. This is where the worst of the worst go when they die. Well, close to it.", he shrugged._

_Saisei nodded and stayed close to her father as they continued their current path._

_"By the way I have no idea where we're going, so for all I know I'm just getting us lost.", said Jiu-Ne over her shoulder with a small smile._

_The tan colored tiger studied their surroundings."Hm. Well how nice of a guy was Ko-Ri, anyway?"_

_Jiu-Ne's face brightened, so she stopped and turned around,"Oh he was the nicest man. Very tempermental, but he always had a nice thing to say to someone who was nice to me. Nothing made him happier than helping people, either.", she sighed in rememberance. Tigress couldn't help but smile at her mother's happy additude._

_"Well then he's at the city anyway, then. We should just head there.", said Po with a shrug._

_"But question is...where is there if here is...here?", Saisei asked, squinting her eyes at the fog surrounded town around them._

_"Good point.", he mumbled as he put his thumb to his chin, then looked at his mate,"Hey Ti, can you sense him out? Him or maybe Oogway?"_

_"It will be difficult; with this change in air density the shifting of Chi flow would drastically change as well.", she stated._

_"What air?", he raised a brow as she raised her paw at eye level._

_"My point exactly.", her eyes softly glowed at that last word, and her paw began to shake dramatically as the space around her fingertips blurred. She extended her claws, showing a red ominous smoky light seep from them. Suddenly, she slashed at the space before her, making the red glow turn into streaks. They floated there for a moment while she retracted her claws and stopped the glowing of her eyes. The red light began to waver and whisp, and slowly it started slithering away from the group towards the left."And there we have it; problem solved.", she said following the 'mist'._

_"You mean we just have to follow the 'claw thingies' and it'll lead us to the city?", asked Po._

_"Essentially, yes. I thought of Oogway to look for his signature like you taught me the first time around . This mark is made of pure spiritual energy; so the Chi signature I thought of, in this case Oogway's, will influence it's direction and eventually lead us right to him."_

_"That's my daughter.", said Jiu-Ne proudly. Tigress smiled a little, and they continued to follow._

_Little did they know that there were two yellow eyes hiding in the shadows of a nearby house; listening, watching, and cursing under it's breath..._

_Meanwhile, with Song_

The gray furred female with the rather messy white and blue tunic and sea green pants slumped a little in her posture, getting very discouraged in her search for the white tiger.

"_Damn it, why didn't I just wait to see where he was going before I left the roof?_", she asked herself for the thousandth time today. Finally admitting defeat, she made her way back to the sage's temple. Thankfully there weren't as many people on the first floor as there were this morning, so she had little trouble finding her way to the stairs.

The leopardess walked up to the fifth floor and knocked on the open door to announce her presence, there she saw the three felines and the panda sitting in meditation, the snake holding a baby, and the red panda and leopard sitting in the corner apparently talking. Song walked over to the snake, glancing over at Tai Lung in her short commute.

"Uhm, Viper?", she said quietly, as the baby in Viper's clutches was sleeping.

"Hm?", Viper turned her head around,"Oh hey, Song.", she faced the four meditating mammals once again.

"I had a question for you.", mumbled the feline with her shifting feet.

"And that is?"

"Do you know where Koru went?", asked Song softly, feeling Tai Lung's eyes on her even though she knew he wasn't looking by the fact that he had his back to her.

Viper blinked and her mouth formed a small smile,"Yes, he was here a few hours ago. He needed money for breakfast so I told him to ask Jiu-Ne for some. I guess he'd aquired it because I heard him walk back downstairs a few minutes later.", she said with her head still turned away from the leopardess to hide her expression.

"Oh. Then where in the world could he have gone? I looked everywhere...", she said under her breath with her thumb holding her chin ad her eyes to the floor in concentration.

"Did you check the new palace site? He could have gotten bored and decided to make good use of his time. Seems to be there all the time, anyway...", Viper said in a sigh.

Song smacked her forehead with her open palm,"Of course. Thanks, Viper.", she said before running out of the room.

"Anytime...", replied Viper in a soft, sing song tone, knowing full well Song could not hear her.

Shifu twitched an ear and looked up at Tai Lung once again,"Your Chi is wavering, Tai Lung. You must remember to concentrate; keep your focus on our comrades, we need to be certain of their safety."

"Y-yes, master, of course.", Tai Lung said while glancing out of the corner of his eye at the doorway before closing them once again.

Song ran out of the building and began traversing down the hill, almost stumbling multiple times. She dodged a ladder being swung around by sliding into the main road. In her mistake she accidentally got in the direct path of a ricshaw coming straight at her. Panicking, the antelope pulling the ricshaw began to skid to a stop. But being the quick thinking dancer, Song leapt from the ground, doing a frontward flip as she used the antelope's horns for support and flung herself over the cart completely before continuing on her way.

Once she began to come up to the doors, she slowed to a stop. Her lungs collapsed and expanded rapidly to meet her need for oxygen, particularly for her brain and especially now.

"W-wait...it's almost noon. He's...eaten breakfast, but...", she said panting and looking to the side at the restaurants to her right. She smiled, looked at the great gates once more before turning her body and running for the savory scented buildings.

_With Koru_

The forever-burning flame in the sky beat down on the scene before it; showing every rock, leaf, and living thing it's power. The white tiger that carried the rock in his arms sighed in relief after lifting yet another slab, only feeling discomfort when he walked over the hot floor of the would-be palace. In his opinion, this was much better than carrying wood. For not only was he getting a good workout from the labor, he was also getting more shade from the sun's stare, and the feel of the cool underside along his rippling shoulders made for a relaxing state allowing him to keep from taking as many breaks.

Koru grunted as he lifted the slab over his head and slammed it onto the dirt beside the others, making small puffs of dust kick up in the process.

"Be careful, you idiot!", yelled a nasal, hoarse voice that came steadily closer,"Do you want to crumble the stone, or are you just trying to me misrable?", the boar exclaimed as he scurried over the numerous slabs that jutted out occassionally from the uneven ground and swung his short cane in the white tiger's direction.

"Put both together and maybe you'd come close to the reason, you little...", he grumbled.

"What was that?", yelled Kugi.

"Nothing, nothing...", said Koru with a dismissive wave of his right paw behind him at the boar. Kugi eyed Koru uncertainly before turning around to get back to his supervising over the carvers who were making the columns on the other side of the construction site. Koru stretched out his arms and sighed before turning back around and walking back to the supply cart where two lynx sat talking.

"...and then when I tried to tell her that it was a 'just friends' gift, she slaps me in the face! Now tell me, Boki, what in the hell did I do to deserve that?", said the lynx on the right to the lynx on the left who was leaning against the side of the cart wearing purple pants and a light shirt and currently looking bored while reading a scroll. Boki sighed and adjusted his glasses. He looked at the lynx with the red pants and no shirt.

"I don't know, Soki, maybe it's because you were making out with the girl you gave the gift to?", he said in an irritated tone before going back to his reading.

"How could she have known that, though?", asked Soki as he looked at the ground in confusion. Koru shook his head and kept silent as he picked up another slab of stone. Feeling the change in weight, Soki looked behind him and stood up on the cart to walk over to Koru's side,"Hey. Hey-hey-hey-hey, Koru.", he began to walk along the cart as Koru walked, apparently ignoring him,"You know how women think, right? All you silent types usually got the brains for that kinda thing, right? Tell me how she found out.", he stood on the end of the cart when Koru kept walking.

"I'm telling you, you're neeeeever gonna get a reaction from that guy unless you either treat him like dirt or treat him with respect.", said Boki, never looking away from his scroll as he slowly closed the top and unraveled the bottom to keep reading.

"Well that's stupid!", said Soki as he glanced at his brother, then back at Koru. He hopped off of the cart and walked quickly over to Koru as the white tiger kept his bulging arms around the rock. Just as Koru lifted the giant stone over his head, Soki stood right in front of him with a smile on his face,"Hey big guy!"

Koru became wide eyed as he was beginning to bring the stone down. He stopped bringing the slab downward, but became unbalanced and started to fall backwards. Soki yelped and grabbed Koru's shirt to help keep him from falling, but to no avail. Koru fell back and the slab came down with a slam into the ground. With the force of the fall, Soki flew over the tiger and fell face first into the now-jagged rubble.

Carrying the food in a bag, Song ran over as soon as she saw the scene unfold.

"Koru!", she knelt by the tiger, setting down the bag as he sat up,"Koru, are you alright?"

Koru rubbed the back of his head and looked at the leopard,"Yes, I am fine."

Soki got up on his knees and groaned as he rubbed his face,"Yeah, sure, completely ignore the guy that just planted his face into the sharp-as-glass rocks. I'm okay, in fact. I'm great!", he rubbed his face some more, then looked at Song and perked up his ears. The lynx quickly stood up and went to Song's side. He picked up her paw and put his other paw to his chest,"Fair maiden, may I ask why it is that you have blessed us wit-", he was interuppted when Song slammed her fist in his face and he fell back in a groan of agony.

Song turned her head back to Koru and sighed,"I'm glad you're okay. Here, I brought you some lunch.", she said while presenting him with the bag.

Koru looked from her to the bag, and blinked,"Uhm...thank you."

"It's no problem.", she said with a shrug and a smile. They stood up and walked over to a pile of wooden planks and used them as a bench. Koru set the bag in between them, then began to take the food out until Song stopped him, "No no, I'll do it. You just relax.", she said. Koru nodded a little and put his paws in his lap. She took out a couple of plates of vegatable stir fry and imported grilled meats. Song put a good sized amount on his plate before handing it to him. He nodded in gratefullness and began to eat,"You know...you really shouldn't work so much. It's not good for you."

"What else is there to do around here?", he mumbled before taking a bite out of the meat.

"Well, Po and Tigress plan our next courses of action and plan our missions as needed, Shifu tries to connect with Shiro, Shiro has his 'Channeler' thing, Viper has her dance theater, Mantis has his classes, and Saisei and Jiu-Ne have their magic studies. Surely you can find something.", she shrugged.

"Hmph. Doubtful.", he said after swallowing his meat, then began to work on his stir fry.

Song's ear twitched softly,"Well, what do you like to do for fun?", her head inclined to the side slightly as she looked at him in interest.

"I do not know, work is the only thing that seems to make sense on how to spend my time."

"Oh please, you have got to be kidding me. Are you telling me that you don't actually have fun at all? How do you live?", she asked.

Koru sighed softly and kept chewing,"Well...", he said before swallowing,"I do not have fun because there is no reason for it. Goals cannot be completed when you have fun."

"Okay, that's it. You're breakin my heart here, Koru. Are you telling me that you've never played a thing?", she squinted her eyes at him in disbelief.

"I never said that. I once played Wei Qi. Overrated experience.", he said as he continued to eat.

Song smiled,"Hmmm. I tell you what...", she said leaning back on her paws, he raised his head to look at her,"I bet that by the end of the day I can show you how much fun life can be. And if I win, you have to buy me two tickets to the dance theater where I can take whomever I want. If you win, I will never bring this up again."

"Oh that's alright, I know life can be fun. But thank you.", he returned to his meal. Song showed a blank stare for a moment, then smiled again and sighed noticably.

"Welllll...we could go fishing. At least that's productive.", she shrugged, rocking her left leg that now crossed over her other.

"I'll go fishing with you!", Soki said ecstatically from behind the pile of wood directly behind them. Song did not even look at him as she smacked the back of her fist into his face.

"No, thank you. I must finish my job here. From here I will most likely do my rounds like I had been ordered to do by Po.", said Koru in an emotionless tone.

"Oh that was over a month ago, he doesn't want you to keep doing that!", said Song with a frustrated sigh.

"Still.", he put the rest of his food back in the bag and stood before bowing to the leopardess,"Thank you for the meal, Song, it was most satisfying."

"You're welcome.", said Song softly as she watched the male walk away. She rubbed her head a little and stood up to clean up the area. Suddenly Soki poked his head up once more and pouted.

"You're no fun, you know that?", he said rubbing his now blackened eye.

"Please do not start with me, whoever you are.", sighed Song as she packed up the food.

"Well you can't blame a guy for trying.", he said in a grimace.

"Apparentally you can blame a _girl _for it though.", she mumbled, though Soki could hear her clearly.

"So I wasn't imagining things."

Song shot him a hateful look as she continued to clean, "Shut up."

"You like Koru."

"I said, shut up!", she said in a growl while looking directly at him.

"Whoa whoa, hey. No need to get mad, I completely understand! It's just...", he said with his paws up in defense.

"Just what?", she snarled.

Soki looked at the tiger that was currently scooting columns on the ground to position them and turned to face Song, putting his arm around the leopard. But then he quickly took it away as Song snarled again,"It's just that...the only times I've ever heard that guy talk is when he's talking to a bug about some other girl. A girl with a weird name."

Song's facial features soften and she sighed sadly,"Yunwei..."

"Yeah! That's her name! So see he's already got a girl, so...whaddaya say? I'm up for some dancing.", he smirked as he did some silly arm waving and waist shifting moves. Song did not look angry, yet she looked at the lynx out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. She picked up her bag and walked back towards the city.

"_He's still not over her. Of course. How could I have been so stupid? What am I supposed to do now, produce her body for him?_", to her aggrivation, Soki began to follow her.

"Hey listen, I haven't had lunch yet and I noticed you didn't eat at all before, so I was thinkin uhh...", he jumped a little in surprise when she threw her bag at him. He caught it and looked at her.

"Just take it!", she said before running off with tears in her eyes.

"Huh.", said the lynx as he took out and munched on some of the meat while watching the female run. Though he was rather enjoying the meat, he immediately dropped the food once his body stiffened. Which was because he had a shiver up his spine. Which was because of the shadow that had just passed over him. He turned around to see an angry looking tiger.

"What the hell did you do to Song?", he growled.

"Hey! Don't blame me, this is _your _screwup!", stated the lynx out of pure fear.

"What do you mean, welp?", he said with bared fangs as he lowered himself down to Soki's height to get in his face.

"I-I just told her about that Yunwei girl, I didn't know that she was gonna cry!"

Suddenly Koru grabbed Soki by the throat and threw him down onto the ground. He didn't crush his windpipe, but he was damn near close to choking the poor creature to death.

"Don't you _ever _say that name again!", snarled the tiger.

"You don't get it, do you?", said a slow paced and calm, almost zen-like voice coming up behind him. Koru did not move, but looked at Boki as he waltzed passed the two with his paws in his pockets and his three scrolls under his arm,"Soki told the leopardess that you still like that Yunwei girl, so she ran off crying cus she likes you. That about sum it up, genius?", asked the lynx looking down at his choking brother who was now at his feet.

Soki nodded, still clutching Koru's paw and tugging at it with all his might. Koru sighed deeply and released the lynx. He stood up straight as Soki sat up coughing hard and holding his throat.

"So what's the story with this girl, she dump you are somethin?", asked Boki once he looked directly at the white male.

Koru wasn't really paying much attention, for he was staring off into the distance of the city. Soon though, he began to walk away, and with a mumble he answered,"She died.", the two lynx looked at each other,"Tell Kugi I'm done for the day.", he called back as the two looked from their brother's face to Koru's back.

_Back in the Spirit World_

_Saisei groaned,"This is way too far! Are we there yet?"_

_"For the...billionth time...!", said Tigress with a small snarl of extreme annoyance, breathing a little hard through her nose as she tried to keep calm,"this place controls your speed with optimism. OPTIMISM! So the more you bitch and whine, the longer it'll take for us to get there!"_

_"Soooorry! It's just that we haven't even seen the city on the horizon yet and it's been hours!", whined the liger with her drooping shoulders as they passed a forest of gigantic trees as big as the ones in the Quin Yun Forest._

_"Yeah, you're definitely Yogan's daughter, that's for damn sure.", grumbled Tigress._

_"Hey, that's not entirely accurate!", retorted the tan feline._

_"Oh really? Remember when we had to walk across the Tokasu Desert because of the harsh wind conditions? You wouldn't stop complaining for five days straight!", said the female tiger master._

_"Oh you always go back to that.", said Po as he rolled his eyes._

_"I haven't mentioned it in over eight hundred years!", she exclaimed with wide eyes at her husband whilst the group stopped walking._

_"Yeah, only cus you were dormant most of the time.", mumbled the male with a glance to the ground._

_"Keep talking, Yogan, and you'll end up with a face full of fist.", growled softly by Tigress._

_"Hold on, settle down! Let's not get so uppity! We have a job to do, remember?", said Saisei as she looked back and forth between her father and step mother,"Jiu-Ne, help me out here.", she blinked and turned around when the aged tiger didn't answer,"Jiu-Ne?"_

_The three suddenly realized that Jiu-Ne hadn't followed them for the past few minutes as she was standing, and facing, the forest about fifty feet away._

_"Mother?", Tigress began to walk slowly over to her mother, who did not answer her. Suddenly a purple light began to glow out from the large crevice of the trees, illuminating Jiu-Ne's features. With widened eyes Tigress started running, followed by the others,"Mother! Get away from there!"_

_Jiu-Ne could not hear the soft patter of her daughter's footsteps, nor could she hear her voice. Her irises sparkled at the light unfolding before her, and her padded feet made the initial attempts at steps. Carefully, as if she had not yet believed it herself, she extended and outstretched her paw to the light and spoke in a soft and hushed tone,"Ko-Ri..."_

_Tigress, Po, and Saisei's ears twitched as they heard the abnormal and disturbing voice come from the trees. It was deep, demonic and rumbling like an earthquake in the form of a bubbling pot of water. Slowly there extended several tentacle shaped arms that waved and slid around the female._

_"Oh no, you don't!", shouted Tigress as she leapt up into the air, switched into her dragon form and flew above the tentacles where she blew a flame straight down. Po, at the time Tigress was transforming, slid on the ground to make himself faster. He bent backward until his spine was almost touching the dirt. Saiei chanted a spell under her breath; her eyes glowed into a golden light, making the tentacles straighten and seize as they began to glow in yellow as well. This allowed Po to slide under the tentacles and grab Jiu-Ne, dragging her down to the ground to slide with him just as the dragon sent the massive flames down upon the giant appendages._

_The deep, monstrous sound shreiked in pain. The light turned from purple to yellow when the tentacles tugged desperately in an attempt to get away._

_"Don't let it go, Saisei!", said Po as he held down the struggling Jiu-Ne._

_"Let me go! I have to get to him!", shouted the old tiger as tears ran down her cheeks,"Please don't hurt him!"_

_Seikaku touched down on the ground and blew her flame once more until the tentacles stopped moving and became limp._

_Saisei sighed and released her spell, ceasing the glowing light. There was complete silence save for the crisping sounds of burning flesh and Jiu-Ne's turned back to her feline shape as she and Saisei walked closer to the thing in inspection._

_"What the hell is this thing?", asked Saisei, she lifted one of the tentacles, making it crumble into ash._

_"Some kind of demon, that's for sure.", said Po as he stood up once Jiu-Ne had relaxed from the faded spell._

_"This was no demon.", said Tigress as she studied the ashes, pointing to the still slightly glowing core of one of the tentacles,"Look at this; pure Chi. This was done by a caster of some sort.", she lowered her voice as the other three came closer. Saisei began to analyze the Chi with her paws rotating over the charred flesh as Po knelt down beside Tigress and Jiu-Ne had begun to wipe her tears and stare at the darkness of the trees in anger,"We are being followed."_


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: To Show Your Mettle_

_"Finally!", chimed the liger out of pure relief._

_The four felines had been walking for three days straight in the Spirit World, and suffice to say that they were weary. Thankfully they had no more run ins with demons for reasons Saisei at least was far from enthusiastic about. On four seperate occassions the husband and wife had branched off from the two other females to...'optimise their energy'. Each time brought a headache to Saisei, and to Jiu-Ne as well. But Jiu-Ne was at least mature enough to keep from feeling too detered by it. Nonetheless, the tiger couple had accomplished their task at bringing them closer to the city. And on the third day of their journey, at long last the city that they searched eagerly for had shown itself on the horizon; the dark sky that always permiated the Spirit World had begun to faintly prove it's dim light from afar when they came out of the forest and into the field of dead flowers._

_Though the ground was for the most part soft through the brittle grass and fragile flowers, their feet were still quite pained and unforgiving of their willingness to apparently abuse the lower limbs of every feline. But with the city now in sight things were a little better off, so they therefore became much more oblivious to their surroundings; as such they had no use for the terrain and it's occassionally dreadful ways as Po and Tigress reminisced on events past in their previous visits. At the daughter's request, Po kept the details quite vague. Yet it was quite unreasonable as the couple unnaturally walked away from the slower members of the family by means of their 'optimal maximizing'._

_Eventually through all conversations and strategizing, they found the great stone bridge in front of the city and stopped to rest._

_"God, that was excruciating. After we get back, hun, I am taking a well deserved bath.", said Tigress as she crossed her arms and leaned back against one of the giant wooden posts that held up the large ropes that were the railings to the bridge._

_Po kept glancing at the other side of the bridge as he had sat down beside Tigress on a somewhat flattened stone that was as large as a cart wheel,"Uh huh, yeah-good idea babe.", he said._

_"What's wrong with you?", she raised a brow at her mate as Jiu-Ne and Saisei finally caught up._

_"We don't need to be here for too much longer.", he said as he was now continually staring at the bridge whilst leaning his elbows on his knees, now unfearful of hiding anything from the female,"I have a feeling that I know who's been following us now."_

_"Who?", she asked. Before Po could respond, Saisei interuppted._

_"You know, just because...", panted the liger,"because you...you can't really share a lot of your...optimism shit, you could at least...slow down enough for us!", she said leaning on her knees. Jiu-Ne was no better off as she had now collapsed onto the ground on her back in a groan._

_"Hei-Wa, you're paying for a full body massage when we get back.", groaned the older tiger._

_Tigress smirked,"Of course, mother.", she said before turning her head towards the bridge._

_"To answer your question, Ti, I think it's uh...", he mumbled something to such a sheepish extent, Tigress couldn't make out a word of it._

_She turned her head back towards the tan furred one and squinted her eyes,"Not your finest lingual moment, love."_

_Po rubbed his temples with his big fuzzy digits and sighed as he stood and faced his tiger mate,"It is Ogama."_

_Saisei immediately stood up straight and looked at her father as if she wished to dig holes into the side of his head,"Are you fucking kidding me!", she exclaimed in almost a roar._

_Jiu-Ne sat up, leaning on her knee with one elbow as her other arm leaned on her paw with the soft ground underneath,"Who...is this Ogama?"_

_"I was about to ask the same, actually.", stated Tigress with an expectant look to her male,"Well?"_

_"He's the top agent of the god of the dead is what he is!", spat Saisei with crossed arms as she stepped towards the bridge and stopped just short of when the stones began._

_"Top agent...you mean he is the general of the demons?", asked Tigress who looked back and forth between the liger and the tanned one._

_"Er, of sorts. He's more like the archangel. See, he's on the side of good, but his 'boss' keeps him up to mischeif and lets him cause disasters on the Physical Realm and the like to make sure dead are still flowing in naturally.", said Po who waltzed over beside Saisei and stopped in front of the stone as well._

_Tigress sighed and pushed herself away from the wooden pillar as Jiu-Ne stood up, she then walked over behind the two,"So what does this mean? The god of the dead has it in for us now?"_

_"Doubtful. But you never know, so consulting Oogway about this needs to be on our checklist.", said Po as he turned around and took her paw in his,"Come on. We need to hurry up and get into the city so we can get back and see Kicho again."_

_After a few minutes of seemingly pointless walking, the liger was now on edge. She looked over the side and grimaced at the sight of the seemingly billions of glowing blue orbs that inhabited the giant pit below like a lake._

_"Erhm...dad?", she said._

_"Yes?", he replied._

_"Is it...", she hugged herself, but it was not from chilliness,"Is it true what they say about Ogama and this lake?"_

_Po's eyelids lowered halway and he spoke quietly and in a sad tone,"Yes, sweetie, it is."_

_Tigress looked at her love in worry and expectantcy. He gave her a side glance, yet did not answer right away. For a minute of silence, his other paw that did not grip Tigress' was busy fiddling with his gray slacks._

_"Well...you know how it seems like you can never get to the city even though it's right there when you're on the bridge? That's Ogama's doing. He uses this illusion thing that makes your perceptions seriously screw up. Which is why I started suspecting it was he who was following us, because of Jiu-Ne thinking...well, you know."_

_Jiu-Ne nodded in understanding when Po looked back at her sympathetically._

_"So how does this lake fit into to it?", asked Tigress._

_"When a soul travels to the city that has not dettached from it's physical body, such as a monk or a caster, Ogama has always tried to gather their souls to fuel his power.", said Saisei in a low voice._

_"So he has a spell set on this bridge; when souls cross it, he tries to make them give up on going to the city by setting illusions into their minds.", said Po._

_Tigress chuffed some,"That...ingrate. Such a cowardly thing."_

_"Hun, hun...don't start talking shit about Ogama while we're on his bridge. If he shows up, we're toast.", said Po in a reasoning voice._

_"I don't care, this isn't right!", she almost shouted._

_"Mai Tai, just think about Kicho...we have to get back. We have to get back...", he whispered the last sentence and gently gripped her paw as Tigress' features softened to a degree. She nodded and they continued towards the city._

_"It still isn't right..."_

_"I know, Ti, I know.", the male nodded as the four kept walking._

_There was a silence for a few minutes as the group traversed. It was hard not to speak, for the atmosphere now was far from happy. Finally Saisei decided to strike up a conversation...sort of._

_"Hey dad, is it true that in the Garden of Ruin that-"_

_"Young lady, do you want to give your step mom a panic attack or do you want to get out of the Spirit World before your cloaks wear off?", snapped the tan tiger to his daughter._

_"Yes, sir. Sorry.", said Saisei, a twinge of anger hitting her from the scolding._

_Finally the group made it to the other end of the bridge. The four all let out a harmonious sigh of relief as they walked up to the gates where two antelopes forever proudly stood at the ready to guard the gates to the city._

_"Hello Fukutsu. Hey Seishinsakuran.", nodded Po._

_"Finally you have the intelligence to speak my name correctly, Dragon Warrior.", said Seishinsakuran with a smirk._

_"I always knew how to say your name, Seishi, I just love that look on your face when-", Po smiled and pointed with a small laugh in his voice with the antelope's face turned highly aggravated,"Oh, there it is!"_

_Fukutsu rolled his eyes and shook his head with a slightly upward curved mouth,"Do you wish to pass, Dragon Warrior?"_

_"Yes, that would be preffered.", stated Tigress._

_"Hei-Wa, we should leave. This place feels too...holy for me.", whispered Jiu-Ne at Tigress._

_"Yeah dad, should we really be going inside?", whispered Saisei to Po._

_"Don't worry, you two, everything will be fine. Just keep your eyes closed and hold onto us when we pass through the gates. Don't open your eyes for anything until we say so.", said Po as he gripped Tigress' paw again._

_The two in the back nodded and all four held each other's paws before slowly making their way through the door. First came the winds, which were expected. Then came the whispers; another item on the list of things Saisei had been told by her father. Then something that no one expected. No other sounds came about. No shouts, cries of pain, no flames burning. Just a very bright light. The winds had stopped. There was no sound at all now. The other three aside from Po brought open their eyes and gasped at the sight before them._

_They were not in the doorway to the gates of the Golden City. They were in fact now in a hall of pure white marble and ivory stone. Stone pillars with beautiful intricate designs on their surfaces surrounded a circular gigantic hall that held up a dome ceiling with the center of it being a massive white light that left no corner or crevice hidden. The floor was pure marble under their feet, and was cool to the touch. But the cold did not bite in the least, yet felt comforting to the felines from their long, endurous journey. Leading up from the floor to the pillars were five marble stairs all around, making the lowered floor they were centered at to be almost like the 'witness stand' in a court. Yet though all of these things seemed fascinating to the group, what was more amazing to them was what stood- no, floated in between the pillars._

_There amongst the pillars floated five, glowing giants; each roughly twenty feet tall and floating ten feet off of the ground. One, glowing in scarlet, floated nearer to the family. He was in the shape of a serpent, with irises almost unnaturally narrowed even moreso than any reptile's eyes should slit. His scales were as sharpened blades, dagger-like and similar to the armor of a soldier. Upon each scale sat a small, feint ebony circle. His fangs that he bore as he spoke glinted like pearls coating swords worthy of a king's defense. His voice was deep and booming like the the shouting of the loudest horn in the lowest pitch._

_"Dragon Warrior Buranko tiger birth-right Yogan. Leader of the Defenders of China Seikaku. Daughter of Yogan Saisei. Mother of the Seikaku of tiger birth-right Jiu-Ne Oken. Grandmaster Oogway has told us you have come with requests. Your requests shall be given or denied in regards to your deeds in your life or lives. The court now recognises the four to be under the Law of Cycles. Those in question may now give their requests, and we will have deliberation.", he then floated back to his spot in between the pillars to the left of the group and coiled into a unique sitting position only a snake could perform._

_In between the pillars just to the right of the serpent from their point of view floated a gorilla glowed in a golden hue. His massive arms closed inward to meet his paws in his lap, for her sat in the air in the Lotus Position. With his eyes previously closed, he opened them. Strangely enough he had no eyes. Yet you could not see what was in his head from the large glow of light coming from inside the apparently hollow shell. His voice sounded aged, yet held the strength of power and authority. Much like Shifu's, but it spelled much higher dignity and piety when he floated closer and looked down at the four who were still in awe._

_"Yogan Buranko. State your request..."_

_Po shook his head to snap himself out of his trance when his name was called,"Oh. Y-yes, sir.", said the male tiger in a low bow, the other three following suit,"I, Yogan, and my bride, Seikaku, wish a complicated and extreme feat in the eyes of us mortals. Our enemy, Moeru, has cursed our son to feel no emotion. He does not cry, nor does he laugh. He does not show excitement at the new world around him, nor angst when he feels pain. We come to you now to request that you redesign his soul, and grant him the emotions that every soul has right to."_

_Po almost had to yell at the end of his small speech as there was a whisper among the five giants beginning when he said the word 'redesign'. Apparently all were in deliberation. The strange looking bubble like animal with tencacles that glowed blue made gurgle type noises in a language none of them could understand, and the green glowing eagle beside him used his coarse voice to almost screech his loud whispers. The gorilla and serpent were also speaking. But the one in the middle, the fox that glowed a pure white, kept silent; his knuckles that pressed together in between his short fingers covered the end of his snout. He looked in great contemplation, especially as his eyes had not opened since the felines arrived._

_Suddenly he raised his right paw, so the gorilla and serpent fell silent. He raised his left, and the bubble creature and eagle fell silent as well. The fox opened his eyelids slowly. They looked completely normal, unlike the other giants. Though his irises were almost completely pale and white around his pupils. He gazed with these eyes at the four and studied them thoroughly. Each of the four felt as though they were being scanned and picked apart at that moment._

_Suddenly his mouth opened. He sounded silky and calming._

_"If we do this, Dragon Warrior, you must do something for us."_

_"What must I do?", asked Po in a voice saturated in respect._

_"You must promise to allow our disciples to train him when he turns the age of ten."_

_"What?", stated Tigress in almost a yell.,"No, I will not accept this! My child will not be taken away from me prematurely!", she said standing up straight with Po standing as well._

_"Honey, please, Kochi's life is at stake. Like you said, he can't develop properly without emotions.", said Po to his wife in a low voice._

_Tigress looked at him for a minute, then at the ground with her eyes shut tight. Po sighed. He hated seeing that look. He turned his gaze to the fox once more._

_"Make it seventeen."_

_"Twelve."_

_"Seventeen.", said Po with more authority, putting his light brown arm around Tigress. The female smiled from his actions._

_"Thirteen! And that is my final offer!", said the fox._

_There was a pause for a moment as the two stared each other down._

_"Fifteen."_

_"Acceptable."_

_"Thank you.", said the tiger parents in unison._

_Suddenly there was a light brighter than any other appearing before them from out of the fox's mouth. It floated in front of the group for a minute before shooting up through the ceiling._

_The gorilla came up to them once again._

_"Jiu-Ne Oken, mother of Seikaku of tiger birth-right. State your request..."_

_Jiu-Ne, who had been almost huddled together with Saisei up to this point, stood up and swallowed hard,"I-I-I wishhhhh t-t-t-to s-see m-ma-ma-my husband-d-d."_

_The eagle spoke up this time; his voice was a little nasal, yet coarse as one who was quite knowledgable,"Ah, Ko-Ri Oken. Yes, he is in my sector of the Physical Realm."_

_Everyone was speechless after this statement. No one would say a single word, until Saisei spoke up. Scratching the back of her neck, she was very uncomfortable from all the silence._

_"Sssssooooo, this Ko-Ri. He's alive? Because everyone was kinda under the impression that he was dead."_

_"In many ways, yes he is alive. But he cannot leave for reasons unknown even to us.", said the eagle._

_"Where is he?", asked Jiu-Ne without missing a beat. With as much optimism at this news at her disposal, she felt that she now had the strength to last for a few more days in this world._

_"In an ancient castle to the West of China. Do not worry, a guide will be sent. For your sacrifice to save your daughter who saved countless lives herself as a result of your actions, you have been in our debt for a long time. It has been in our wishes to repay you one day. And that day has come.", the eagle said in smiling. Jiu-Ne smiled back and bowed low, being overcome with emotions she was doing her damnedest to keep from crying in front of these giants._

_The gorilla came upon them once again, "Saisei, daughter of Yogan. State your request..."_

_The liger rubbed her arm and pressed her ears against the fur on her head,"I-I don't think you would allow my request to be granted. It's so stupid, really.", she said in a nervous laugh._

_"Try us.", said the serpent._

_Saisei took a moment to collect her thoughts and nodded slowly. Out of fear she kept her eyes shut and her body stiff,"I wish for my bloodline to be of Tigress' and my fathers, in the stead of my true mother's. It is shameful blood and I want nothing to do with it."_

_Tigress, Jiu-Ne, and Po looked back at her. Tigress had gone slack jawed at the liger's request._

_"Apologies, Saisei. But this, we cannot do.", said the fox with genuine sencerity._

_Saisei stiffened even more and nodded once again, sniffling this time,"Thought not..."_

_"Saisei...come here.", said Tigress softly with outstretching arms. Saisei stepped up to the tiger and allowed Tigress to hold her tight and pull her head onto the tiger's shoulder as Saisei began to sob a little._

_"Understand that this is not a thing we cannot accomplish. But in your blood is the power to destroy Moeru. And it must be you-"_

_"Why must it?", snapped Tigress in a hiss,"She has already been through enough, Moeru was Yogan and myself's responsibility in the first place, it should be us!"_

_"You dare question the authority of a god-", shouted the fox._

_"I do!", yelled Tigress before breathing in her dragon form and transforming into Seikaku. She now held Saisei with the end of her tail in a gentle squeeze to keep her safe,"As a dragon my soul has always held the right to challenge your positions! Any of them! Do not forget that!"_

_"You forget your place, Seikaku.", said the serpent calmly._

_"Oh I do, do I?", she replied angrily._

_"Yes. If you became a god, you would never see your family again. It is not a threat, but fact. Do you wish this upon yourself?", stated the serpent._

_Seikaku's wrinkling of her snout smoothened and she huffed softly. She tansformed back to the tiger body and held the liger once again in her arms,"This. This is my child, no matter what. Physical properties be damned, I have a daughter. You would do well to grant her request and gain my favor.", growled Tigress before kissing Saisei on the forehead. Saisei looked up at Tigress and smiled wide through her tear filled eyes._

_"Let's go.", said Po sadly._

_"What's wrong-"_

_"I said, 'let's go'.", interuppted Po with more authority to stop Jiu-Ne's question._

_The three nodded and vanished out of their meditation. Po closed his eyes as he heard the voice behind him._

_"Fourteen.", said the fox._

_Po sighed through his nose,"Yeah, saw that comin.", he then vanished to follow his family._

_With Song_

She ran through the streets and slipped into a narrow alleyway to hide in the shadows. She crouched down behind a large pile of refuse and wiped her eyes from the tears that littered her facial features.

"I mean seriously, what the hell am I supposed to do now? The guy's a brick wall when it comes to this stuff in the first place, he's never gonna open up if he thinks there's even the slightest chance that...that she's...", the snow leopardess huffed and wiped her tears once again.

"I might be a brick wall, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to listen.", said a voice that made her jump. She gave a cold look to the tiger that walked up to her from the other end of the alley.

"What the hell are you doing here? And how did you find me so quickly?"

"You would be surprised at how easy it is to find someone when they run in a circle around town.", said Koru as he leaned back against the opposing wall and crossed his arms.

"Well go away, I don't want to look at you right now.", she spat.

Koru's ears lowered slightly, so he stood up straight,"If that is what you wish.", he then began to walk back the way he came. Song watched him through her red puffy eyes, then sighed heavily and muttered to herself about never forgiving herself before standing up.

"Koru."

The tiger stopped, but did not turn around.

"Yes?"

Song walked over to him and gently tugged on his arm. He turned around from her request and looked at her,"What is it?"

"I just wanted to try something...", said the female. She then turned her irises towards the sky behind Koru, and her eyes widened as she pointed,"Oh my god what the hell is that!"

Koru turned around at lightning speed,"What is it!"

He squinted his eyes as he saw nothing behind him and turned around once more to ask the snow leopard was crazy, but his words were stopped in their tracks when he felt a pair of warm, wet lips on his.

Standing there for a minute, he went wide eyed as Song clung to his neck and held the kiss. Once she felt his heart beat faster against her chest, she began to purr. Koru slowly put his paws around Song's back. And for a few seconds he stood there enjoying the kiss; his lips even began to dance with hers. But then he quickly pulled her off.

"This...cannot happen. I am sorry, but...I mean, she fell into the forest. No body, not even any blood.", he said with his head lowered.

Song held her elbows in her paws and looked to the side,"I-It's okay. Believe me, I understand. It's just...I don't know, I've never been able to control myself as easily as other girls have. So go find out.", she sighed again and closed her eyes,"I'm sure I'll regret saying this...but I'll be waiting for-", she turned her head towards him and opened her eyes to find that he was gone,"...you..."

With lowered ears, the snow leopardess walked out of the alley heading back to the group's temporary home.

On the other side of the alleyway stood two lynxes hinding behind a corner apparently evesdropping. They looked at each other and smirked.

"So you think it might be...?", asked Soki.

"Could be.", shrugged Boki with a smile,"Best find out. Come on, let's keep following him before we lose him on the rooftops."

_Imperial Palace: Specific Room Location Unknown_

The room was made up of complete darkness, save for a single candle on a lone table. At that table sat a panther scribbling on a piece of parchment. His right paw, the one he used to write, had long scars lengthwise on the back of his fingers. Though it could barely be seen in the light of the stick of wax, the panther wore a pair of black pants and black tunic. The place was very quiet, it's silence only penetrated by the sound of the male's writing.

Just then two figures appeared in the shadows before him, crouched in bowing positions in front of the door that was the enterance to his office. The panther stopped hisw scribbling, set down his quill, put his paws together and sighed without looking up at the two,"Did you get every single detail I asked for?"

"Yes, sir. Every detail of what exactly happened to the Dragon Warrior and his crew has been researched, cross referenced and tested by our spy sources. It is all legitimately true.", said one figure.

"When will the briefing be ready for the troops?", asked the panther.

"Tomorrow morning, sir. Rest assured, your time between now and the throne has been greatly shortened.", stated the other.

The panther smiled viciously,"Excellent..."


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: Incense and Evidence_

With the opening of eyes, the female tiger smiled at the beautiful sound of crying once it filled her ears. She stood up from her position and turned around to see her scaly sister still cradling her child. Twas not long ago at all when the babe would nary even whimper. But now the child was different. It was finally whole.

She walked over to the snake and knelt down on her left knee to see her little wailing cub. And though she was happy, her eyes moistened from the waves of emotions hitting her at that moment. For through their efforts the curse had been lifted.

Tigress scooped up her child and gently hugged him to her chest in a purr. The crying slowly came to a halt. And soon Kochi had calmed down long enough to look up at the source of that calming sound, to the one who provided the warmth that his previous carrier didn't. His tear soaked cheeks pulled up high to show a smile. And as the panda walked up behind the two and saw that jubilant face, he immediately knelt down as well and softly carressed the boy's forehead with that signature smile of his own that could not be rivalled.

"We did it. He's going to be fine.", said Po happily in a soft voice to his wife, who only laughed a little under her breath and nodded in between her sniffling.

"Not to break up this very touching family moment, but uhm...", spoke the liger as she looked at the sundial that sat by the window of the room.

"Yes, I was about to say just that. The Emperor has required our presence. Though it was certainly an emergency when Tigress went into labor, the Emperor's Scribe stated that the meeting must take place as soon as possible.", said the red panda as he stood up with the assistance of his staff.

"Oh so I guess you're blaming me for the postponment?", spat Tigress in a mumble, yet she took great joy at that moment as she tickled Kicho's tummy. This caused the panger to giggle and coo.

"Of course not, I did not mean-!", Shifu sighed wearily with his furrowed brows and closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself. He opened them a few seconds later to look at his son-in-law,"Po, we need to talk."

The Dragon Warrior looked up from his son to his old master, then to his wife, then back to the red panda. He shook his head,"I'm sorry, Shifu, but I have to gather everyone else for the meeting. Hun?", Tigress looked up at Po and though the back of her head was to the red panda, Shifu could tell her face was covered in resentment as her head shook.

But once Po's eyes glowed for a moment, along with Tigress' at the same time, she sighed and handed Kicho to his father. She took some comfort when Po kissed her, but stood in emotional agony nonetheless. The red panda now awaiting by the door gave a small hopeful smile when the tiger walked over to him. It faded as she passed him with a look of complete indifference. He followed her and they walked up the stairs to a floor with a private room.

"That...is going to be one ugly conversation.", said Tai Lung in a look of deep thought.

"It's been a long time coming.", sighed Viper with a slow nod.

"Yeah...hey, Viper, do you mind getting Mantis and meeting us up at the Palace gates?", asked the panda after removing his eyes from the doorway and looking down at his son who had started pawing at the black fur on his father's chest. Po smiled at Kicho and softly played with the tiny paws with his finger.

Viper frowned a little,"Alright, but I hate to disturb him. His class usually doesn't get out until half after two.", she said while turning around to slither out the door.

_With Koru_

Building after building passed him in his peripheral vision. His back paws clawed at the surfaces of the homes and businesses as his transit went across the rooftops with the tearing of wood and tile. He would likely have to pay for the repairs later. But he honestly did not care, his mission was too important.

His green eyes found a slope far down his declining path. He leapt from the edge of the building he was currently running across, and slid his body down the tiled roof. In his sliding, he flew up the slope and soared over the wall. The guards atop of the wall watched in awe as the tiger flew by, but attempted to continue their patrolling whilst the great confusion never left their faces. They had no right to be concerned in truth. After all, who cared who came _out _of the city?

The white tiger landed on all fours in the forest that hugged the walls to the city. He huffed a breath of relief and peered around at the forest floor. Nothing out of the ordinary so far...

His nose twitched in search of her scent. He knew she did not land anywhere near here, but perhaps if she survived...

He closed his eyes and concentrated on familiarizing scents. His knuckles grasped the brown leaves in between his large fingers. His tail twitched in interest of this non lethal yet exciting hunt. He smelled...a familiar smell! The scent was drenched in...sweat...and there was blood. Not a lot of it. Just enough for a long cut along the-

"Ow ow ow ow ow owwww! Damn it!", growled a voice in the bushes. Koru's eyes forced themselves open and he swung his head to the shaking foliage at his seven o' clock as Boki came walking out calmly with his paws behind his back. Boki gave a small sigh.

"Don't pick at it, you'll only get it infected! Now come out here so I can sew it up!", shouted Boki with a voice of irritation.

Soon Soki came limping out with a bleeding left leg,"Hurry up then! Girls don't want a guy with a bum leg!"

"They don't want a guy with a bum face, either.", mumbled the brother that knelt down and began to threat the needle from the small medical kit he kept on his person.

"Hey, I heard that!", yelled Soki.

"Silence!", spat the white tiger quietly as he had now straightened up on two paws once again, "What are you two doing here?"

"We came to-ow-help you find your gi-owoowoo! Your girlfriend!", Soki ended in a small growl of pain as the needle repeatedly embedded into the skin of the back of his leg.

"And how in the world do you think you can help me?", said Koru who narrowed his eyes.

"Let's just say that we have friends in high places who...know things about this forest.", said Boki focusing his eyes on the wound he was sewing up.

"For instance?", he asked with a raised brow of vague interest.

Boki sighed a little as he finished closing the wound and tore the surgical thread with his teeth,"For instance...", he tied the end up,"The powers behind the Royal Guard, more specifically their leader Tsu No Bai, do a lot of experiments. Secretive experiments that aren't exactly morally on the right. And the failed experiments end up in this forest. So depending on what has survived, we might be in real trouble if we go deep enough."

The larger feline huffed a sarcastic laugh under his breath in a mixture of amusement and frustration at the lynx's annoyance.

"The way I see it, you two are simply distractions in that case. Why should I take you into such a dangerous place when you would only get in the way?", growled Koru once his back was turned. He began to walk away.

"What a child you are.", sighed Boki. Koru stopped as the lynx continued,"We have the most precious thing in this world; knowledge. And without that knowledge you will not survive here. No matter how strong you are."

Koru turned to the side to look back at the two lynx,"Fine. Then you will take care of yourselves. And if you fall behind, I will not turn back.", he turned around once more and got on all fours.

"B-but my leg!", stuttered Soki.

"You stay here. I know the most about these experiments anyway.", stated Boki as he too got on all fours.

Soki leaned against a tree and crossed his arms,"Fine, but let me know what happened.", grumbled the wounded feline.

Boki nodded to his brother before looking ahead towards Koru.

"Ready?", asked the tiger in a small growl.

"Ready.", answered the lynx in a bored pitch.

As soon as he said this, the tiger was off. The lynx quickly ran after and did his best to keep up.

_With Tigress_

The daughter and father made it up to the top floor where a large sunroof presented itself above the room. The only shadows of the room aside from theirs were the large wooden beams that stroked across the bare, empty white floor. Shifu stopped beside the first shadow that presented itself to him once they entered the one room of that floor, but Tigress kept walking until she was standing in front of the opposing wall. She kept her arms crossed and would not speak in the least.

A few minutes went by, neither of them said a word. If not for how much the two had grown emotionally, the two would have surely began to turn this into a competitive and stubborn way to see who would speak first and lose. But thankfully, someone spoke.

"I am tired, Shifu.", said Tigress in a low voice heavy with a bitter weariness. Shifu looked up from the floor to stare at her, his face showing naught but worry at her next statement,"I am tired of...this...feud we have between us, this...", she shook her head a little, still not turning around,"this way you spoke to me, the way I can never...ever look at you again without thinking about what you tried to do."

Shifu, who was breathing slightly hard from his heavy heart, looked at the floor a few feet away from Tigress, but they returned when he spoke up softly,"But I was under Moeru's control, you must understand this! It was not my true intent!", his voice was coated in desperation.

Tigress turned to the side to look at the red panda over her shoulder. Her irises fixated on him with a burning passion to seek out his turmoil and rid it from him, but at the same time she could not forgive the things he had done previously,"And how am I to believe this?"

"By looking into my mind-"

"No! I will not risk my sanity by simply trying to reconnect with you!", she said stepping towards him in a shout,"You! The one who tried to keep me from my love! You, the person who for all I know has been put under numerous undetectable spells by Moeru over the four months she had you in her grasp! From what evidence has shown in the past, you would trap me in your mind just to keep me from this rare and beautiful happiness that has been lost to me for centuries!", she whimpered in a yell, finishing her speech with tears in her eyes while standing over Shifu with a pointed claw and an almost shaking right fist that hovered between them.

Shifu kept a solemn stare on his daughter, not reacting in the slightest beyond the quiet drops of liquid that left his eyes as she spoke, but his paws continually gripped onto the staff he held in a tight vise-like clasp.

"Tigress...", he had a wavered and hurt voice, but once he cleared his throat and swallowed the immense lump in his throat his tone was serious and slow as if he was asking her to perform a routine on her Kung Fu style,"Please tell me what I must do, or say, to get you to believe me."

"Tell me every detail of what transpired the day you were put under her control.", she growled.

"And then you will believe me?"

"No, but it's a damn good start.", spat the tiger that lowered her fist only to cross her arms again.

Shifu rubbed his nose by pinching the bridge with his bony old fingers,"It is still hazy, but...after I met with Masters Ox and Croc when the six of you were out celebrating, I decided to take a walk with this Soothsayer woman to discuss what had transpired. She was quite the troubled goat, but a very good heart nonetheless. We spoke of history, prophecies, and certain...other things that I cannot truly remember. It...it fogs my mind whenever I attempt to bring those images up.", the red panda sighed. Tigress' face had softened a little, but she kept a glare on her father.

"What can you next remember?", she asked in nearly a tone of eagerness to know more.

"I remember...we walked into the marketplace. There was a kiosk, a tented one. I...it was not Moeru, but the panther. We approached the tent...and I purchased the stone. I placed it on, and...", Shifu groaned a little as he gripped the side of his head,"I cannot remember anything else.", he shook his head and with his lowered eyes.

"So to get to the bottom of this, we have to first speak with the Soothsayer.", mumbled Tigress, putting a thumb to her chin.

"So you believe me?", said Shifu as he looked up at his daughter.

Tigress looked from the floor to him, then narrowed her eyes,"Reluctantly so. If she had not been the cause to Tai Lung's disappearance in Kyrokuyoru City, then you would have no chance. But now...", the tiger sighed through her nostrils and closed her eyes,"Tell me one more thing."

"Anything that I have knowledge of.", smiled Shifu, who finally had taken a step forward in reuniting with his daughter.

"Where does the Soothsayer now reside?"

"Ah, she has a room in the Imperial Palace Barracks."

"Hm.", and with that, Tigress walked out of the room. Leaving a slightly confused, yet somewhat relieved red panda to sluggishly limp after her.

_With Viper_

The snake slid her way into the building that held a large sign reading 'Self Defense For The Small'. She kept as quiet as possible in the large open room. It was filled with bunny and pig children, as well as a few praying mantises, some antelope children, and even a few feline cubs. There were a couple however that caught Viper's eye. One was a familiar blue snake boy. The other was a dark brown furred wolf cub who was vaguely familiar to Viper. She coiled herself silently behind the oblivious class and smiled wide at the bug who was teaching at the other end of the room.

"...and with a simple shifting of your weight with your hips to the side, you can quickly-", Mantis paused when he saw Viper, but soon continued with a smile,"you can quickly fling anyone, no matter what their size or strength, onto the floor.", he flipped the positioned training dummy beside him, that had the position of one about to stomp on him, onto the ground without moving his legs. It landed on it's head and cracked in two. The students gasped in awe and clapped. Mantis smiled even wider,"Alright everyone did great today, but why don't we take the rest of the day off?"

This was followed by a few groans of disappointment, then a few conversations between the children started as everyone got their things ready to leave. Mantis scurried around the class and found his favorite snake.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing here?", he asked with a hug to his mate.

"So I have to have a reason to see my boyfriend?", huffed Viper in a very convincing voice of agitation.

"No way! I just thought...", he stopped himself before he could continue into an apology. The bug gave Viper a look with a raised brow and smirk, and it widened when Viper giggled.

"I can't fool you much anymore, can I?", asked the snake in a sweet and kind tone as her head rubbed against Mantis.

He laughed a little,"So why are you really here? Not that I'm not enjoying the company, Vi-vi, but you never come during my classes these days."

"Oh, Po asked me to come get you. We have that meeting with the Emperor and his advisors, remember?"

Mantis performed his version of a facepalm,"Of course, I completely forgot!", he sighed and turned around to see that almost all of the students had left aside from the blue snake boy and the dark brown wolf boy,"Wo Fa, Yung-xi, we'll have to postpone our private class until tomorrow."

The two boys "awww"ed in disappointment.

"But Master Mantis, you promised!", whined the wolf.

"I know guys, but hey! When we get out of class tomorrow I promise to take you both out to eat for supper! How's that sound?", asked Mantis in an excited tone. Viper smiled at the bug's fatherly attitude, and while the wolf Yung-Xi exclaimed his joy with a nod and huge smile, Wo Fa frowned.

"Thank you, master, but I have to get back home after my classes remember?", he asked, now showing a small smile.

"Oh...yes, of course Wo Fa. We will figure something out then.", said Mantis.

"Awww, why can't you come Wo Fa? It's gonna be great! Why do ya always hafta ruin the fun!", said the wolf child.

"Yung-Xi, you are excused.", stated Mantis with a solumn frown.

"But Ma-"

"You are _excused_, Yung-Xi Kumeru!", he repeated in a stern tone.

The wolf blinked and nodded. He bowed to Mantis, and Viper as well out of respect. He then picked up his bag that held what little equipment he had and looked at Wo Fa before running outside.

"I am sorry, Wo Fa, he does not understand.", said Mantis as he approached the boy.

"It's okay, master. He didn't know.", said the snake with the reptile's version of a shrug.

Viper slithered closer to almost meet Mantis' distance,"Now listen, you know that you can always ask us for help Wo Fa. You don't have to go through this alone.", she said as she got beside the boy and coiled the end of her tail around Wo Fa's neck in a gentle hug. The boy nodded.

"I know. But everything's gonna be fine!", he replied in a small laugh with his tail swishing in dismissal. Viper kept looking at the fellow snake with sympathy, but bobbed her head in a slow nod.

"Just be sure to keep us up to date with what is happening. If the worst should happen-", she stopped when Wo Fa tore away from her and looked at the two.

"Everything is going to be alright! Nothing is going to happen!", he said with watering eyes. He practically flung himself out of the building to slither away, leaving his equipment behind.

The remaining snake and bug looked at each other with a knowing look, but Mantis soon looked away to start locking the building up for the day and eventual night.

_An hour later with Po, Tigress, Shifu and Saisei_

Po sighed in annoyance. The four, well five with Kicho, were standing outside the Imperial Palace gates. They were high metal bars made of polished brass. The rest of the seperators between the Palace and the city were extra thick walls of stone built in curled forms with the wall of the mountain that the gates themselves stood beside.

Saisei was sitting and leaning up against the wall looking extremely bored. Shifu was sitting and balancing on his staff in meditation beside her. Tigress was sitting in a meditative position on the other end of the gates, but was holding Kicho in her lap and tickling the child. Po was pacing back and forth and watching the road that led up to the Palace.

"Does anybody know where everyone could possibly be? I mean, he asked for all of us right?", said the panda nervously.

"The Scribe stated that the Emperor required as many of us as possible, Po. Obviously Crane and Mei Ling could not be here. But I believe Song went off to find Koru.", stated Shifu, who never opened his eyes or moved.

"I told Viper to go get Mantis, but they should have been here by now.", mumbled Po. He looked back at the tiger,"Where is everyone else?"

Tigress kept her head down towards her son Kicho, but closed her eyes and concentrated for a minute in silence, "Song is...not with Koru. She's back at the hospital. Why is she so distraught?", she mumbled that last sentence before continuing, though Shifu could hear her perfectly,"Mother of course refused to do anything else aside from getting that massage, and yes she is definitely doing that. Very relaxed.", she sighed a little,"Mantis and Viper are on their way...they just left Mantis' studio. And Koru...", she suddenly brought her left paw up to her forehead and pressed her fingers against the fur above her brow,"This is strange."

Shifu opened an eye to look at his daughter. Saisei turned her head to the right to look at Tigress. But Po kept watching the road, yet he acknowledged her comment with a quizzical grunt.

"His Chi sigature is fading...but he isn't in danger? What the h-", she opened her eyes to look at Kicho, who stared up at her with a look of innocence, "hhheck is going on here?"

"Where is he?', asked the red panda, who was growing interested in this problem.

"He is in the forest.", said Tigress, her face almost glowing with concentrating.

Before Shifu could say anything else, the gates opened. And a water buffalo came waltzing out in a gold and red robe. He wore small glasses and held a large scroll in his shining black hoof.

"Pardon me, masters, but the Emperor can wait no longer. It is time."

"But our friends-", Po started as the others got to their feet.

"Can be escorted into the Hall once they arrive, but the meeting starts now.", stated the Scribe before turning around and walking back inside the courtyard. The four reluctantly followed. The courtyard was completely covered in cobblestones and patches of browning grass all about. There were a few large circular fountains on the left side, and on the right was where a large tree stood in fading bloom from the autumnal weather. No one resided in the courtyard at least; certainly the Emperor felt this meeting important enough to excuse his subjects for the day.

The front doors to the Main Hall that they all now approached were made of wood with metal statues of the First Royal Guard. There were ten in all. The four on the bottom were gorrillas wearing massive armor. The three above them were snow leopards with one one either door in the standard scissors stance and the one in the middle being halved in the crease of the doors in the horse stance with it's arms crossed in an 'X' over it's chest. The two above them were snakes that entertwined along the crease of the door, but when their heads touched when the doors closed their upper bodies formed a heart. The one above them, which was made up of the most metal and looked the most brilliant, was a hawk with it's wings outspread, it's talons outstretched and it's beak wide open.

The royal doors opened, revealing the Grand Hall. There was a very long table covered in white cloth that began just a few feet away from the bottom of the six threshold steps. The white cloth was littered with plated food and golden candles as well as eating utensils and cups. On either side of the hall stood many columns made of marble and metal, which they each stood and brought the roof up to a few hundred feet. The roof itself arched to a point as wooden beams that laid across hung many golden chandeliers. The walls were made of depressingly gray stone, but they held the occassional giant red and gold wall hanging in between every four or five columns. When the group entered the gigantic place, they felt the smoothened stone floor cold to the touch and each involuntarily shivered.

The Emperor sat at the very end that faced the doorway. He was a young lynx. His fur was typical to that of a lynx, but the fur was very well groomed and bright. His eyes of hazel stared at the warriors that entered with his face in his paw, his elbow leaning on the armrest of his chair.

"Well it was about time!", he exclaimed.

"Our most sincerest apologies, Emperor Qui Dao. We wanted our meeting to be of the highest importance, and believed you deserved to see all of our available members.", said Shifu in great respect and a low bow. The other three followed in the bow.

"Hm.", the lynx looked at the panther at his left that wore a black outfit with the Imperial Seal on the left side of his chest, then closed his eyes and waved a paw almost in dismissal. But he meant it as if to say, 'go ahead'.

The panther grinned and stood with a bow. He turned to the masters with a deep and condesending voice,"Please. Sit.", he said waving his black glove covered paw to the seats before them. They did so, all four sitting on the Emperor's right for his advisors all sat on the left. The panther looked at the scroll in front of him and smiled wistfully,"Hmmm. So...", he picked up the open scroll and studied it for a moment, walking around his seat at the same time,"Masters Shifu, Tigress, Dragon Warrior Po and...", he looked at the liger,"Apologies, but you say you are the Dragon Warrior's...daughter?", he laughed in disbelief.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?", growled Saisei as she crossed her arms.

"Not at all, adoption is a wonderful thing.", he said in a sigh and shrug,"I just figured that if I had adopted one so old, I would be fucking her."

Immediately all four of them stood in anger, with Tigress holding Kicho's head against her chest to cover his ears, Saisei gripping the table cloth with a snarl, Shifu gripping his staff and Po growling a great anger.

"How _dare _you say such a thing-!", started Po as he restrained himself to keep his eyes from glowing red in anger.

"How dare _I_, how dare _you_!", spat the panther,"As a sect that is funded by the Royal Treasury, you are all prone to complete and utter betrayal at your actions! You!", he pointed at Shifu,"You, Grandmaster Shifu, failed to report to the Emperor at the events of what happened in Gongmen City! As well as this, you also failed to keep your mental state at it's premium! Not to mention failing as a Kung Fu Master by allowing your precious Jade Palace to fall into chaos, gods know what actually happened to it!", he then pointed to Tigress and Po,"You two abandoned your posts! Left the people of the Valley of Peace to die! Which alone is punishable by exile, but you took the rest of the Furious FIve with you! Leaving no one but a deranged old man to care for it!", he then turned his gaze to the angry liger,"And finally you! Your mother is directly _responsible _for these deaths! And here we allow you to even be in the presence of our Emperor! This idea alone could jeopardize the very integrity of our culture! You endanger us all!", just when the four began to argue, he interuppted once again,"Shut up!", he yelled in a growl, tossing the scroll onto the table once more and scowling at them all. He leaned on the table with one arm between his chair and the chair next to his. He pointed at the table with a fiercly long claw and spoke in such venom Tigress was almost tempted to leave so Kicho would not be poisoned. The only thing keeping the poor child from screaming was the sound of his mother's heartbeat and feeling her warmth causing him to sleep. And her covering his ears had kept him from hearing a thing,"Now you are all going to tell us word for word what has happened this past year. Because as we speak, this bitch Moeru is killing, pillaging, raping, and kidnapping civillians-_Chinese _civillians! We have sent out our best troops with none coming back but suicidal messengers!", he gestured his paw to the open scroll that the four were now staring at,"Now tell me, 'masters'..."

They kept staring at the scroll that was facing them, and they read the text. It was not written in ink, but blood. It was a list of eight Chinese generals with three of their names crossed out. At the bottom of the page was the name of the Emperor. At the top of the page were the names,'Master Crane, Head of the exit strategy; Master Mei Ling, Head of the assassination; and Master Monkey, Head of Strategizing'.

"Whom is it that we can trust?", seethed the panther at the dumbstruck four.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6: Entanglements_

Echoes of a decrepit soul wailed throughout the branches of each tree that surrounded the two felines, and they spoke in warning tones to them. Neither feared for their lives to be true to themselves, but they were weary from their running. It had been just ten passed an hour since they had started the run, and neither Koru nor Boki had let up in the least. But that was about to change. The path had slowly grown darker even though the sky had not turned so dark. It's reasons proved from the ever thickening branches that hovered and cocooned the pair's journey, but for the better or for the worst had yet to tell it's soon to be inhabitants. Their calves continually constricted painfully, the muscles of their thighs hungered for rest that had been denied. Sore. Tired. And empty of fuel. Finally the lynx allowed his exhaustion to set in.

"Would it be…fair to say that we should stop for a….a moment? Please!" wheezed Boki to the tiger beside him, too tired to even turn his head to look.

As soon as Koru stopped, Boki collapsed upon the forest floor and slid painfully to a stop.

"You may have a…point." panted Koru. He looked hastily around them to observe their surroundings and keep certain no enemies were near, "You would not have brought any water, would you?"

With his elbows and knees feebly propping the lynx up, Boki shook his head carefully, "N-no…I must admit I had not allowed that thought to cross my mind when we followed you."

Koru withheld his groan, as complaining was not in his repertoire. But this was very bad. The tiger made a point to keep himself hydrated as much as possible. And in his desperation to find the one he loved so dearly, he did not think to bring a pouch of water. He needed to find water, otherwise they would not survive the run back and they did not pass a single drop of moisture in this hell hole.

The large feline leaned back against a tree in his weariness to debate on where to look for water. With such a lack of it in the other parts of the forest, surely water would be hard to come by any way you look at it. A few minutes passed as the two rested, with no words exchanged save for a confirmation of each other's proof of living.

Suddenly Koru's ears twitched. He heard something. It sounded pristine. And cool. And rejuvenating. He straightened up from the tree and began to follow the sound, each step taken another decibel louder and clearer to him. The thick bushes that kept this forest so dark and unclear on the bed of the great mass of foliage hindered his initial sight of his destination. But he could not give up, not when the sound was so enchanting and near. Koru looked around at the trees before them. They stood as bars would in a cell, only none were so narrow or close. He stepped towards the green darkness between the trunks. His paw grabbed hold of the almost sheet like coat of leaves that hung from the tree to his right. Then Koru pulled the sheet back and beheld the sight.

Here stood Koru in front of the cliff side, yet it was not only rock before him. It was a large clearing that surrounded the face of the canyon. But what was so wonderful to the tiger was not the clearing itself, but what it contained. Coming out of the side of the canyon was a spring of water. It poured a small fall of water not a meter wide. But in it's wake sat a great pool of water, a tiny pond that kept the ever surrounding trees at bay.

"Boki!" quietly hissed Koru to signal the lynx to follow. Once he saw that Boki had removed himself from the ground and saw the tiger, Koru disappeared behind the bushes and trees. A confused Boki furrowed his brow from this feeling of muddled clarity. The lynx stood up straight and walked over the cursed land he vaguely knew too well. He pulled away the foliage to reveal the sight of Koru cupping his paws in the water and drinking of the pool. Boki's eyes widened as this scene pieced itself together in slow motion. The cliff side. The water. The pool itself. Koru drinking said water. And to his horror it was all true.

The lynx ran as fast as his pain filled legs could take him, "Koru, no! Don't drink that!"

Koru immediately allowed the water to drop from his paws at these words, but it was too late. He had already swallowed two paws full.

"What? What's wrong with it?" asked Koru as he looked at the wet fur of his paws in suspicion, "Is it poisoned?"

"No, but it isn't normal water." said Boki, examining the tiger's ears and eyes, ignoring Koru's instinctive growls. Boki sighed and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses, "You'll be okay, but…"

"But wha?" Koru blinked from his fractioned word, "Wha. Wha. Wha tha hewl!"

Boki bit his lip to keep from laughing, "It will last until you digest the water, Koru. But you will be fine, I assure you." said the lynx in a chuckle. He stood and walked away from the tiger that now had the freakishly large tongue.

Koru tried to growl as he stood, but with his tongue in this state, it came out as an angry groan. Koru followed the lynx out of the clearing grumbling in his head. They soon continued on their previous trail with Boki having a lightened spirit, and Koru a new determination to get this search over with.

Over half an hour later in silence, for Koru refused to speak a word with his tongue so enlarged, the two found a slope before their weary feet covered in deadened grass and dried mushrooms still firmly planted to the ground. In inspection of their surroundings, they concluded two things. That this slope was the only way to continue on in the path. And that they should have brought a lamp of some sort, for the bottom of the hill was completely void of light and black as coal.

"So. Should we head into the abyss, big gu-of course." Boki could not even finish his sentence properly when Koru continued his pursuit with blind courage. And now it would be quite a bit more literal. Boki shook his head in thought and continued to follow this fool, wondering to himself if he truly was the genius he thought himself if he was really going to keep traversing so deep into the forest.

"Tell me of this part of the forest, lynx." said the deep voice in front of Boki. He inwardly smiled. Perhaps this tiger was not so stupid after all.

"It is said that the Southern sector, where the two ends of the forest that surround the Imperial City meet, is by far the most incredible. For one, it is obvious that the forest somehow continues to grow under the mountain."

"But if we were commuting so far down, how is the air still so free? I can feel the licks of wind just as before when we on even ground." asked the white tiger. Boki walked a little faster for a few seconds, as the voice had become further away. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"This is one of the more incredible parts as well. Research has proven that we receive air somehow the more healthy trees surround us."

"But-"

"Yes, yes, I know. Without the sunlight, how can the trees survive? Again, it is a mystery. There have been rumors passed down through generations. The most notable and substantial being that our ancestors came across a holy spirit that dwelled in these lands. Our ancestors were, while skilled in the arts of farming and building, very foolish when it came to politics. They pissed off a tribe that lived not far up this mountain, and as the tribe laid siege to the villages that settled here our ancestors hid in these very paths to find the holy spirit. It told them that if they served it, and gave sacrifice to it, that the spirit would protect this land from foreign peoples with evil intent.

"Well, they did just that. They planted these trees that they had planned to hide their descendants through the ages with. The spirit was benevolent, thankfully. And took pity on their poor heritage. So she protected them. And there you have it."

There was a silence for a minute, which worried the lynx.

"Koru?"

"You sound as if you believe this, Boki."

"Hm?" Boki thought for a moment to reflect on his words while they continued to walk "Well it- I mean, it is just a tale told by my mother. You know how things are with parents, they tell you things and you automatically believe them as a child. Hehehehe…"

"Mm. Quite."

"So…" continued Boki, who was continually wishing to get rid of any awkwardness from this silence "where are you from?"

"Born in Kyrokuyoru City. Raised in the Fubuki Mountains.", stated Koru gruffly.

"Ah. Interesting, very nice place…" Boki cleared his throat once more "I am a local boy myself, just been out of the Imperial family's domain a few times. Are all of your clan from the Fubuki area?"

"No."

"Mhm. Do y-"

"If it is all the same to you, I would rather not speak so much. This place….does not smell right…"

"True it is ominous, but just because it is so dark. Anyone would feel strange walking around blind."

"I am not blind. I can see fine." said Koru's voice as it quickly became closer until-

"Oof!" Boki smacked right into the tiger and fell back. Luckily Koru caught him by the collar.

"So you are blind in this?" asked Koru with a raised brow as he inspected the apparently lost lynx.

"Yes.", said Boki as he straightened up and wiped his shirt, "You aren't?"

"I will admit that it is dimmer in here, but my vision is clear. Were you never trained as a child to see in the dark?"

"Not particularly, I was somewhat…sheltered as a child." mumbled Boki.

"I see." said the suddenly slightly quieter voice as Koru turned back around "Just follow my voice, I will be sure to keep you up to date on our surroundings."

"That would be preferred." murmured Boki as they continued.

Koru attempted quite successfully in keeping himself from rolling his eyes, but it was hard not to. However their surroundings were very unique and kept the tiger interested throughout this portion of the journey.

"In front of us are more trees, we have a forked road. Why are they so strangely colored?"

"What do you mean by colored?" asked Boki.

"It is somewhat hard to tell, but…" Koru squinted his eyes and slid his left paw over the bark of one of the trees that forked the road "I believe it is…red?"

"Red trees? Strange…" whispered Boki to himself "Though it does make a small deal of sense if…"

"What?" asked Koru.

"Nothing, just another part of the legend. They said that to find the spirit they would follow the blood of their work. A little obvious, so I am unsure if this would be our best path."

"It is just as well, both roads are riddled with these red trees." said Koru as he leaned back against a tree and watched the lynx's reaction.

"Hmm…" the smaller male rubbed his jaw with his finger while he cupped his own chin "Which side holds more?"

"The left."

Koru's eyes widened when he heard a voice exactly like his own. He attempted to look around but realized that he could not move. Somehow the tree he leaned against had wrapped it's branches around him and covered his maw to keep from screaming. Koru attempted to struggle, but the tree only lifted him away from the ground to keep the tiger from gaining his footing. Koru watched as Boki walked cautiously through the left pathway following this familiar voice. Suddenly he was pulled back inside the trees, and he could feel his energy being drained from him. In his desperate attempts at freedom he thought of a lot of things. His sister. His mother. The battle with Moeru. Song. Yunwei.

And then he blacked out.

Seemingly moments later he opened his eyes to find he was lying in the grass in the middle of a clearing. He knew he was still in the forest, for the clearing, from where he could see with his face to the forest floor, was surrounded in tall growing trees. Much taller than the rest of the trees in the forest. But he soon found that there was something special about this place. Something….enchanting.

Koru sat up and rubbed his head. He looked around and his eyes widened once again to see the very center of the clearing. It was a large trees bathed in a white glow, it's roots dug under the ground and passed through the pool of water that almost surrounded it save for the long pathway that stood in between the tiger and….and…

"Yunwei?" whispered Koru as he stood slowly to never take his eyes off of the sight. There in the tree, being hugged and cradled by it's branches, was Yunwei leaning back against the trunk of the tree spread eagle. Her eyes were closed, but it was clear that she was breathing. Her clothes were the exact same from the night when she fell off of the ledge, gray tunic with a pair of blue slacks, even if they were a little torn and covered in dried blood.

When the voice made it's presence heard, the wolf opened her eyes wearily. Her icy irises flew open when she saw the tiger.

"K-Koru!" said Yunwei happily.

"Yunwei!" yelled Koru as he ran to the wolf as fast as he could. Once he found the spot of grass before her he cupped her face in his paws and kissed her, in which she returned with much relief. Once they parted, Koru looked at the branches surrounding his beloved worriedly, "We-we have to take these off-"

"No Koru, don't!" the tiger looked at the wolf in confusion and worry "I am so happy to see you, Koru. But I…I can't leave…"

"Wh-what?" Koru could feel his tears stinging his eyes and threatening to show "Why?"

The wolf softly smiled in affection "Believe it or not Koru, this tree is the only thing keeping me alive."

Koru's heart sank lower than ever before, and he fell to his knees to stare at the ground. She was a doctor, she knew her own body better than anyone. He trusted her to take her word for it.

"I'm sorry sweetie. If I could have left I would have. But the spirits of this forest…they tell me if I die that my soul will go to Moeru because of the mark she has on me."

"I do not want you to die!" shouted Koru as he looked back up at her, tears welling in his eyes.

"Koru do you know what it feels like to stay still for months on end? To not eat food or drink water in all that time?" asked Yunwei in her soft voice.

Koru bit his lip. He inspected her once more, thoroughly this time. He saw that her muscles had…'atrophied' is what Yunwei called it. Her once thin yet healthily curved body was now depleted looking, void of any tone whatsoever.

Koru bit his lip harder to keep it from quivering. As he spoke, his voice cracked despite his resistance "There…is no way?"

Yunwei sadly smiled and shook her head.

The tiger swallowed the huge lump in his throat and fought against the tears, yet Yunwei could tell how shaken he was at this news.

They were in silence. Neither knew what to say to each other. Koru contemplated staying, but he could already hear Yunwei lecturing him on how he needed to live his life.

"There is…._one_ way, I believe." said an elderly but cheery voice.

Both looked to the left of the tree to find an old goat woman walking towards them with her cane in hoof, carrying a smile through her glasses at the couple.

"You-you are that Soothsayer! The one who took Tai Lung into the Spirit World!" exclaimed the pointing Koru.

"Yes, but my role is never the same one day as It was the previous…" she began as she walked through the path, sidling past the large tiger and inspecting the wolf "Tsk tsk tsk, such a sad thing for such a beautiful young girl. She really had a hold on you, didn't she dear?"

"Yes ma'am…" said the quietly speaking Yunwei, feeling ashamed.

The Soothsayer turned around to look at the tiger and smiled "I will be able to remove her from the tree and keep her alive, but it will take some tim-oop!", the old goat allowed a strained chuckle as Koru hugged her gratefully, once again not taking notice of the great strength he bore.

"Koru!" giggled Yunwei for the first time in a long time. The tiger released the goat and bowed in apology. The goat dusted herself off and gave a warm smile.

"But it will take some time, young tiger. It may take days or even weeks. You must be patient."

Koru nodded excitedly throughout the rest of the explanation and stood up to look once more at his beloved "Can….will the tree allow me to hold you?"

After a pause, Yunwei felt the branches relax their hold for once, and she leaned forward from their slack. Koru approached her again, and softly wrapped his arms around her. It took every ounce of his self control not to hug her as tightly as he could. He buried his snout into the crook of her neck and covered his eyes in the fur on the side of her head. Because of her muscles depleting, all the wolf could do was press her head into her love's neck. They kept themselves in this position for a few minutes, for both had craved this reunion for a long time. And obviously neither wished for it to end.

"It is time, tiger." said the Soothsayer softly. Koru reluctantly pulled away and looked into Yunwei's eyes. She smiled at him, yet she had tears in her eyes. Before he could even ask her what was wrong, she pressed their lips together. When they broke apart, she smiled even wider.

"I….am just so happy. Go now, tell the others." said Yunwei in a wavering voice. Koru smiled at her genuinely and nodded as the branches slid back to return Yunwei into the trunk.

Koru turned around and looked at the goat "I will forever be grateful to you." he was somewhat perplexed as to why the goat did not smile, only nod. He looked back at the wolf and smiled once more, then ran off out of the now opening archway of trees that bore him a path and closed immediately from his exit.

The Soothsayer approached the tree and allowed a sigh.

"You aren't really going to be able to do this, are you?" asked Yunwei solemnly.

"I am afraid not, dear. But there is still hope, if you wish it.", replied the Soothsayer.

"What do you mean?"

"Your soul may be carried to another host body. And you may live on it that." suggested the goat.

"Living in a dead person's body? That is disgusting! Even if I would allow it, it is morally unacceptable! What if their relatives saw me?"

The goat stroked her beard "For one who so desperately wishes to be with the tiger, you are quite picky."

Yunwei lowered her eyes "Tell me, have you been able to see them? Koru and this other girl?"

The goat ceased the stroking of her beard to keep a gaze on the wolf "Ahhh, I see….you could sense the confusion in his heart as well?"

Yunwei nodded.

"He has moved on. He cries for me, but he already mourned my passing. He simply came here to seek confirmation…to be allowed to see this other girl."

"You are wise, young wolf. Wiser than most wolves I have come across, nay all of them." said the elder "But you, like most of the young, think with your passion instead of your love. You feel that he cannot truly love you with another in his heart, am I correct?"

Again, Yunwei nodded.

"Hm…." Suddenly the goat jumped as high as she could, smacked her cane over Yunwei's head, and before Yunwei could even yelp she felt herself falling. No, not falling….pouring?

Suddenly she was only a foot off of the ground. And she felt smaller, especially with the giant goat woman holding her! She tried to struggle, but found that she could not move. This was not news. But what was news was the fact that she felt…glass all around her.

"Where are you taking me!" asked the strangely echoing voice that she recognized as her own.

"To your new body, of course!", laughed the Soothsayer as the trees parted to give way for her.

"New body…" echoed Yunwei, and she looked back at the tree and almost screamed in horror. For what she saw would have scared even the most steeled of beings. She saw her own body.

_With the Po and the others_

A huff of annoyance filled the air from the elderly red panda who sat now in tired aggravation. Five hours had passed in this meeting. This portion of the Hall was filled with pipe smoke, mainly from three of the five generals on the other side of the table and the Emperor himself. The once neat table that had bore many foods and drink now held merely the drink, scraps of food, and piles of papers.

Tigress, who refused to allow Kicho to be exposed to the smoke, had left the Hall and was sitting in the courtyard by the fountain to give her son a bath and to let him play while the rest of the meeting took place. To her anger, she was accompanied by two guards that were to make sure she did not leave the Palace grounds. But thankfully she had the emotional support of Jiu-Ne, who had arrived three hours prior.

Everyone else was inside. Viper and Mantis had arrived first, and they were the most upset of the stragglers to find what had become of their friends. They sat beside Master Shifu now, who sat directly to the Emperor's right. Song came next after a messenger was sent to the home of the clan to retrieve her. She being one of the most reluctant to stay in such a government run facility sat on one of the windowsills overlooking the vast mountains in the distance.

Koru, who had arrived an hour ago, stood with his arms crossed whilst staring down at the panther that stood on the other side of the table. Boki, who had become almost traumatized from his experiences in the forest after Koru's and his parting, and Soki refused to follow the white tiger inside for reasons they chose to keep to themselves. And Koru respected their wishes, for in truth they had been too great a help to him to ask anything else. At least the former was.

Saisei was sitting in a meditative position with her back to one of the columns close to the window where Song was sitting in.

Po was pacing back and forth, glaring at the bloody scroll in his paws as if he could see some sort of hidden message in it's text. That perhaps somehow this wasn't happening. That it hadn't happened. That it was all just a dream.

The Emperor was currently still taking notes, though in truth he simply was making a few drawings in his papers followed by lewd jokes he had thought of. The generals, who were really taking notes, were mumbling amongst themselves about what the group had told them so far.

"Now here is what I do not understand.", said the panther after a sigh, breaking the most annoying silence ever conceived in the Imperial Palace "You say that you, Dragon Warrior, and Master Tigress, are the reincarnations of two of the first Furious Five. Yet you think we are to believe something so outlandish as that without any proof? That we will just...pardon your most recent crimes because of the actions of your past lives? Well I am sorry. Even if we believed you, that's not how it works!"

"And what I can't believe is that such a high ranked soldier could be so stupid." mumbled Po as he kept his pace and glanced at the head general.

"I heard that, you fat piece of-", the panther was interrupted by the growling from Song, Koru, and Saisei, along with Viper's hissing. The panther glanced around at the four, then rubbed his forehead "Fine, fine, whatever. What happened next?"

"I mean come on if you believe Moeru is still alive, then damn…" mumbled Po once more as the panther sneered at him. Po rolled his eyes "Anyways Masters Tigress, Viper, Mantis and Crane went to interrogate King Hogoneipai.", said Po.

"Who turned out to be Hikage in disguise." spat Song, who didn't look away from the scenery.

"And then?" the panther asked.

Song's eyes lowered, but her neck did not shift to point her head downward as well while she gazed at the flowing trees whose leaves continually flung away from it's branches into the wind.

"Look, why are you even asking us all these questions about Kyrokuyoru City? Didn't your spies tell you everything you need to know?" growled Saisei.

"Our spies…feh. Bees. The blunderers have such low intelligence we can get only insignificant vaguealities through four translations. They are almost not worth the bother." fumed the ebony furred feline. Shifu then cleared his throat, earning the panther's attention.

"Hikage took the soul of one of our members. But it was replenished post haste, so nothing need concern on the subject." stated Shifu.

"Oh really?" seethed the panther "Who was it?" he darted his eyes to every member in the room not of the Imperial City.

"No one you need concern yourself with, welp!" hissed Koru. Song's lips curved upward only slightly.

"Ah let me guess, it was you huh big shot?" spat the panther.

There was a silence for a few seconds. And almost everyone held their breath.

"Yes, it was me.", grumbled the white tiger. Song closed her eyes and relaxed in a way she had many times before.

The panther, as well as a few of the generals, began scribbling on the papers in front of them.

"Continue.", stated the panther without looking up from his writings.

"I confronted Moeru, she revealed to me that Saisei was my daughter, and I left. Along with Saisei." stated Po as he slowly rolled up the scroll, getting fed up with all of this audacious talk.

"Simple as that?" asked the panther with his brow raised.

"Simple as that." spat Saisei.

The black feline mumbled under his breath to the general closest to him and the general wrote something down once again with a nod of agreement.

"And so after this you returned to Kirokuyoru and began the destruction of the ancient city, including obliterating the Royal Palace?" asked the panther.

There was a silence in the room. No one wished to voice their opinion now, it was all still too painful. But it had to be done, and they were getting weary from this detailed debriefing.

"There was a plan…" said Po softly.

"We were going to simply disable her army and escape, nothing more…" added Viper.

"But complications arose. Someone got sloppy during one of the stages so Po had to pick up the slack…" mumbled Koru quietly.

"Koru, you had a lot of injuries. It was perfectly understandable." said Viper in her normal caring voice.

The tiger shook his head.

"Can we go now?" growled Song.

"Not yet. We have a lot more ground to cover." said the panther casually as he gathered some papers and stacked them together.

Most of the group audibly groaned.

_With Tigress_

In the water the panger giggled and splashed at the funny liquid that kept bouncing at his touch. Tigress could not help but smile at her child, but it was cooling down now with the sun leaving the sky once more. So she picked up the boy and began to dry him off with the towel she was provided with.

"He is so beautiful, Hei-Wa.", smiled Jiu-Ne as the two sat on the lip of the great fountain.

"I know…a part of me still cannot believe it. He is alive and well and truly Po's and mine own." spoke the younger female. She took her child into her arms and hugged Kicho protectively and lovingly against her chest, to which she instinctively purred. Yet her ears perked up when she felt her child trying to suckle. Tigress looked at the watching guards and spoke with a subtle hatred in her voice, "Care to give us some privacy?"

The guards rolled their eyes, and as the two guards left, the females could hear them chatter as they walked towards the barracks around the corner on the other end of the courtyard.

"So what if she pulls 'em out, who cares?"

"Yer just tryin ta act natural ya perv."

"At least I'm single, sicko."

The two's laughing could be heard as they disappeared.

Tigress unleashed a tiny growl in her throat.

"I cannot believe such despicable soldiers would be allowed to guard one such as the Emperor." she said while unbuttoning her tunic and allowing Kicho to find her nipple, "Even if the Emperor acts as immature as he does."

"Do not worry about them, Hei-Wa. Unfortunately sometimes such men act as children _because_ they have important jobs. They believe that they are better than everyone else, so their outward manner reveals it.", said Jiu-Ne.

"I suppose you are right, mother." stated the now somewhat less than aggravated daughter.

"Mm.", there was a minute of a silence amongst them that both felines venerated thankfully, but when the soft wind died down, they were able to hear the muffled distant arguing coming from inside the Hall. Jiu-Ne laid her ears against her head and looked over her shoulder at the door so far away, "Do you think it will be much longer?"

"I hope not. Kicho needs to sleep soon. As do we all." sighed Tigress.

"I find it discouraging that someone so respectable as that general could act so ruthless to the clan." spoke Jiu-Ne with her softly shaking head.

"How do you mean?" half chuckled Tigress. She always grew amused whenever they were referred to as a clan. Even if by the 'clan's' members.

"If my political facts are straight, this General Tsu No Bai is known throughout half of Southern China as a benevolent leader to his troops. That is in fact why he was given the rank. In every battle he treated his men's lives as his own; rumor has it that he has the lowest death toll percentage in the history of China's commanding officers."

Tigress squinted her eyes for a fraction of a second at this name, yet her eyes remained on her son that was suckling less and less. He was falling asleep, "If he is so caring mother, how would you explain his behavior?"

"I couldn't, obviously." Jiu-Ne's foot dipped into the pool of water, and she softly flicked at its surface with her toes as she stared at the reflecting shine from the lanterns being lit from above, "But people say his change in attitude had something to do with a skirmish to the West. The only thing that surprises people though, is that his patrolling merely took a few weeks' march before he returned. As if he took the Western cities in mere hours."

"And with such a low percentage rate of deaths in his troops, it would be impossible to assume that he went rushing through the cities killing as fast as he could. Someone with such a reputation would be tactful. They would be slow." Tigress said in a slow mumble, as if debating this to herself.

"Surely.", stated the mother.

The younger tiger closed her eyes and softly pulled Kicho away from her breast. She then began to hum a lullaby that she overhead as a child in Bao Gu. It was the only one she had known, otherwise nary would she use it.

Jiu-Ne smiled at her daughter's humming, "That is a lovely song. Do you know the words?"

Tigress slitted her eyelids, "Yes…", her voice was only above a whisper.

"Then why not sing it?" asked Jiu-Ne kindly.

Tigress shook her head curtly.

"Sweetie, be not bashful. It is only us out here." said the older one.

"It is not that…the words…th-they are not for his ears." said Tigress in a small unhearable sigh.

Jiu-Ne, wishing to simply hear her daughter's singing, pressed on, "Please? If it is so bad, I will ask you to stop."

Tigress' irises darted momentarily at her mother before retreating behind her closing eyelids. She then began the lullaby in a soft singing.

"Fear not, little one,

Do hold your own,

Breathe in your tears,

You are not alone,

Keep up your smile,

And never let it down,

Fear not, little one,

You will leave somehow"

Jiu-Ne's ears yet again pressed against her skull as Tigress continued.

"Dream soon in happiness,

No matter the cost,

Lay down in silence,

You now are not lost,

Be good and stay true,

Your time here is done,

Fear not, little one,

Your parents will come."

The silence had returned. And neither tiger wanted to speak. But Jiu-Ne's heart wrenched at this song. Her tongue could not ignore her thoughts much longer.

"Hei-Wa-"

"It is fine, mother." said Tigress while staring at a sleeping Kicho, "Through your actions I lived. I became a Kung Fu legend. I reunited with Po."

"I still should never have left you there. Left you where no one would understand you, where our kind were scarce. Even the lion colonies would have been better suited. And it does not matter if your life turned out for the better. I mean it does, but-", Jiu-Ne breathed in a deep breath, then heaved a sigh as she thought of the correct words she wished to portray, "I guess what I'm trying to say is...my….motherly instincts should have warned me about Bao Gu."

"You were tired. And injured. I understand." stated Tigress. She had a look of sincerity in her eyes. Jiu-Ne nodded and allowed herself to accept this, albiet bitterly.

Slowly Tigress stood up, and gently handed Kicho over to his grandmother, "I am going inside, I sense that Po is in need of my presence. If possible, I will send him out here. He would probably welcome the fresh air anyway."

Jiu-Ne silently nodded, letting Tigress take her leave back inside.

_Back inside the Hall_

Tigress was met with a mixture of angry hollers and growls of discontent. She gently closed the large doors behind her and walked in as if everyone was having a polite conversation over tea. The leader of the Five stopped at the end of the table. She held the facial features of her usual calm and collected self, but as she pressed her finger and thumb to her lips she blew an ear piercing whistle, causing most everyone to stop.

"-and if you think that there's a chance in hell of that happening, you can shove those plans straight up your ass!" shouted a female voice when the other's voices went silent. Everyone was surprised to find the voice coming from the snake, who blushed at the amount of eyes she was drawing.

"Aherm."

Everyone looked straight at Tigress.

"I trust the meeting is progressing well?" asked Tigress coolly in a stating fashion as she waltzed up to her husband.

"I guess you could call it that." mumbled Mantis whilst Tigress came up to Po's side and laced their fingers together; something she knew would help the panda relax at least a little.

"Actually it is growing rather tiresome, Mrs. Ping.", grumbled the panther general.

"What do you have so far?" she asked, staring at the panther suspiciously.

"We have your voyage to Gongmen City, your defeat of Shen, your celebration, yo-"

"Skip to the parts after I left, ignoramus." snapped Tigress, giving everyone in the clan a much needed inward smirk at the insult.

The panther sneered at her and scanned his papers with a sharpened claw.

"Let's see, let's see….seven months ago. You arrived…"

"_Don't you dare die on us, panda!__"__ yelled the red panda in the cart beside the bleeding creature. The cart sped as fast as it could, with Mei Ling and Saisei running their fastest and pulling said cart. Shifu kept his feint blue eyes aglow as he used Chi techniques to slow down the bleeding._

"You sought medical help…"

Tigress gripped Po's paw tightly, and he gratefully gripped back.

_They passed close tree after close tree on the long beaten and winding path. No sign of civilization anywhere. They eventually found the avian friend in the air and followed his lead._

"And you found it…"

"_Th__ere! On the hill!", shouted Mantis from Shifu's shoulder as the cart came out of the forest and saw the large field with the Imperial City surrounded by another forest in the distance on the left and a close by older looking building to the right. It was surrounded by rock filled hills save for the cliff that bore its back end. An old male antelope stood at the front double doorways waiting anxiously for the bird's descriptive colleagues. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Mei Ling and Saisei quickly pulled the panda out of the cart with ease with the aged master using the Gravity Bump technique to make the creature lighter. They hurriedly ran up the steps past the doctor that gave them hasty entrance as he led them into the operating room. The felines set Po down on the table just as the doctor pulled away the beautiful red sash from the panda's body to get a closer look at the wounds. He pressed his hoof into the deepest chest wound, making the panda open his eyes and gasp weezily in pain. The Dragon Warrior groaned and struggled._

"_Hold him down!__"__ exclaimed the doctor. Saisei and Mei Ling held down Po's arms as Shifu and Mantis held down his legs. The antelope leaned down and spoke sincerely yet quickly, "Now sir I am Dr. Yi Que, I am going to help you. Do you understand?" with a nod and stifled sob from Po, the doctor quickly reached behind him at the small table that held his utensils. By sheer memory of how he always placed them he grabbed his gauze and surgical staples. He pressed the gauze on the deepest wound and held it there with his now blood covered hoof. After soaking up the majority of the blood, the gauze was removed and the doctor began to apply the staples._

_Po whimpered in pain and shut his eyes tight as his limbs struggled and writhed. Saisei, who was currently in tears, leaned down and whispered into her father's ear, "Dad, it's Saisei. I am right here okay? Please stay strong cus I need you. Tigress needs you. Your family needs you. Okay?"_

_Po nodded and bit his lip so hard that it began to bleed._

"Later when you were all on the mend, our intelligence attempted to ask you some questions, but were rudely….shall we say rejected…"

_The double doors flew open in a harsh blue light as three pigs and a hawk dressed all in black were thrown out of the doors and over the steps to land on the ground below. They attempted to get back up, but were held down by Mei Ling, Crane, Song and Viper. At the top of the steps stood the red panda with fiercely glowing blue eyes glaring down at the intruders._

"_You are not welcome here! We will report everything in due time and none of you shall take command of these warriors as long as I live!__"__ shouted an angry Shifu._

"Two months later, the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress wed. And in his generosity the Emperor gave you the hospital and the land between the hospital and city to build your new home with. A fitting gift for protective warriors such as yourselves."

"Yeah, funny how that worked out." mumbled Mantis.

"Anyways…" growled the general "Just after this Masters Crane and Mei Ling began their first mission in searching for the 'lost' people of the Valley of Peace amongst Moeru's army."

"Yes and they're still out there! And I don't believe for a second that Crane _or_ Mei Ling could do such a thing!" exclaimed Viper.

"Yeah!" added Mantis.

"Alright enough!" snapped the panther. He sighed and rubbed the pounding headache he had received "We will recess for the night and return here tomorrow morning. Ten o' clock sharp!" he pointed his claw at Po, who sighed in relief and began to walk to the door with everyone else getting up.

As the doors opened both the group and the pipe smoke poured out of the building to be in the fresh air. In seeing this, Jiu-Ne walked to Tigress and Po still holding Kicho. She began to hold the baby out for it's mother, but Tigress held up a paw.

"Uh we both smell like smoke right now mother, so please carry him until we have a bath." she stated in a grimace. Jiu-Ne nodded and followed the rest of the group that tiredly walked down the sloping road. Before Tigress could follow, Po stopped her.

"Mai Tai…what's going on?" he asked. He did not seem concerned, but Po clearly knew something was seriously amiss.

The tiger smirked and shook her head "So perceptive these days, Po. I will explain when we return home. Come."

And with that, the group of eleven passed through the large city, thanking every god that it was all a downhill walk. Once they made it to the city gates they made a beeline across the field. To home.

_Meanwhile in a large damp cave somewhere in Western China_

A growl erupted in the dimly lit cave, and a black paw threw down the stale bread.

"I am so sick of this life! Running, hiding, eating moldy bread and dried up vegetables! When is she going to start with this plan of hers!" spat the female panther who paced back and forth on the rocky floor of the cave. Her sickly purple eyes glared back and forth wherever her body directed her gaze. In a chair leaning back against the wall of the cave sat a monkey looking at a scroll and seeming very bored with it.

"Maybe she's testing your patience? I dunno…" sighed the Golden Languor. Hikage turned her glare to Master Monkey and stopped pacing.

"Just because I trust you doesn't mean I like you, so shut your mouth!" spat Hikage once more.

"Hey don't blame me! I'm not the one panicking for no reason!" stated Monkey as he never took his eyes off of the scroll.

"Well what am I supposed to think? Bokyaku's window of reviving is coming in two months and we haven't even begun our travelling! Still in this rotting country like we are waiting for something!"

"We _are_ waiting for something. Moeru's go ahead to leave." said Monkey simply.

"Something significant!" hissed Hikage.

"Every happening is significant. Through the throw of a rock begins the roar of an avalanche."

"Don't you start spewing that old dodger's quotes at me! I'm over five hundred years old, wiser than you can ever claim to be!"

"If you were so wise, you would figure out a way to get Moeru to tell you what she is waiting for.", shrugged Monkey.

Hikage pulled an arm back to punch him, then stopped herself and held still. Her upper lip twitched as she glared at the Languor again. She swiped his scroll and threw it on the ground before stomping out of the cave to go find Moeru.

Monkey, after making sure that Hikage had left, grabbed the bread she threw to the ground, dusted it off and hastily ran deeper into the cave. He found the end which was lit by two torch lights, one on either end of the wall. Behind these torches was a set of iron prison bars. And behind those bars were two slumped figures in the corner, sitting in the shadows and hugging each other in their sleeping.

"Psst!" hissed Monkey. One of them stirred.

"Psssst!" the other one lifted a long, thin appendage towards the primate.

"Quiet, she's asleep." whispered the awakened one, obviously male.

"Here. It aint much man, but it's better than lately." said Monkey as he put the half a loaf through the bars and tossed it to the shadows, only for it to stop short. The male in the shadows outstretched a very broad arm. Out of the shadows and into the torchlight, seven black and white feathers hovered over the bread and pulled it back into the dark.

"Is Moeru going to pull it off yet?" mumbled the male as he tore off a bit of bread and began to munch on it.

"Yeah. But Hikage is paranoid, she thinks it's a setup."

"Well, it kind of is. Even if Moeru doesn't know it."

"Yeah…" chuckled Monkey, but then he frowned "Everything's about to change, isn't it?"

"More than even General Bai thought it would. I'd imagine he's ready to commence the attack. A lot of people are going to die…"

"Mmmm, I bet there will be.", purred the female beside the male. Monkey's eyes widened when the eyes peering back at him from beside Crane were red and glowing. The torchlight burned brighter to reveal Moeru was in Crane's embrace instead of Mei Ling. Crane pushed her away and panted in surprise.

"What have you done with Mei Ling?" shouted the bird.

Moeru stood as she chuckled darkly "Question is what _haven't_ I done with her. Such a young soul, so willing to try new things."

Crane's heart filled with anger. He flew towards Moeru in ready to attack, but Moeru swatted his incoming kick away like it was nothing, then grabbed ahold of one of his wings and snapped the main bone like a twig. Crane screamed in agony while Monkey tugged as hard as he could at the iron bars to help his friend.

Outside of the cave, the tents filled with soldiers and slaves opened to reveal the inhabitants' heads in the night air. All of them trying to determine which of their master's prisoners were sure to keep them up at all hours screaming and crying from the Fountain Demon's torture.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7: Collide_

After all baths had been taken, and all meals had been consumed, the entire group settled inside the old office room of their adoptive home. The shutters were drawn on every window; every door to the outside world shut. Even the curtains to the outside balconies were closed. Many candles had been placed on stands and set in the corners to keep the room well lit yet hallowed so the meeting would not mislead anyone to think it cheerful. The group was mainly silent as each and every person made themselves comfortable, this term being used quite loosely on every opinionated mind.

Po, Tigress, Jiu-Ne, Shifu and Saisei sat together on one side of the long table. Tigress kept the sleeping Kicho in between her and Po in his tiny rocking crib; the poor thing had a very fussy attitude when waking to bathe, but Tigress had finally settled her child down before the meeting could take place. On the other side sat Tai Lung, Song and Koru. Mantis and Viper sat in between the two sides on the table with their backs to the double doors.

"So where do we stand here?" asked Viper to no one in particular as she looked to and fro between the group.

"In all fairness, I don't think we misinformed him well enough; just because of our "possibly innocent intentions" does not mean we would be off the hook either way." said Saisei.

"No, I think we're lying on just the right level. After all, what can they really do if they find out how much we're lying?" shrugged Po.

"They may send the entire Imperial Army after us?", stated Tigress, who raised her brow at her husband.

"But it's not like we've really done anything intentionally wrong!" exclaimed Po in a low tone to keep his son from waking up.

"So should we continue to lie?" asked Mantis "Cus I have students I care for that could end up in the middle of this should something happen. And I won't allow it." he crossed his arms, looking around at each person. Viper showed a caring smile to the bug, but that smile quickly faded once she turned to her former red panda master.

"What do you think, Master Shifu?" Viper asked with still a great deal of respect.

Shifu sat there for a minute staring into the distance, thinking. For a few seconds he would stroke his fingers along his beard, then tap the same fingers against the side of his staff. Finally he inhaled a slow and shallow breath.

"I think whatever we say we need to choose our words carefully, whether they be truthful or false. But none of this is worth the time they take in putting us through this." his ears then lowered as low as his voice once he looked around at the group "And the original plan stays in place. It is unacceptable otherwise." the master then nodded to no one in general, for the dice had been cast and the plan was set in partial anonymity even within the group for emotion's sake.

"_I do not expect the two of you to die, I wish to make this clear. Immediately." whispered Shifu as he spoke with the two he had secretly pulled away from the rest of the group this hot summer night, "But this plan calls for very risky missions. Crane and Mei Ling have done well, there is no doubt about that. But Tsu No Bai has trusted them too much as of late. I am afraid that one of them, if not both of them have fallen under Moeru's spell as well." the two silently looked at each other, then nodded to the master._

"_May we…tell anyone in the group? So that they would not worry as much?", asked one._

"_That is foolish and you know it!", exclaimed the other in a whisper "It would only cause them grief and worry!"_

"_Po knows, of course. But still…you may be correct." said Shifu in a soft sigh "Alright. You may each tell one person, as a safeguard. But understand that this person cannot know the full picture." the red panda put his arms behind his back and shook his head; he did not keep his new gaze away from the steps that they stood on, "This agent, this Tsu No Ba. I do not trust him. He seems to know exactly what is coming before it happens."_

"_So he can see into the future?", asked the latter with a look of confusion._

"_No, no…but he has somehow grasped the concept of reading minds. This is why I have selected the two of you. Where Crane and Mei Ling have potentially failed, I am certain you can understandably divert any attempts at mind probing." he raised his furry head up, then bowed in his looking upon the two, "Whatever happens, understand that I am proud of you both."_

_The two bowed back as low as they could from this rare compliment._

_Early next day a discussion had occurred between the entire group; Shifu would not explain any details whatsoever. Yet everyone now knew that there was a new plan should there be true damning evidence of the Imperial family's or Army's betrayal of China._

"But when will the plan commence? If we are to lie much more, no confrontation will take it's place.", chimed in Tigress softly; she continued to slowly rock Kicho in his tiny crib, instinctively and protectively glancing at the panger cub every few seconds.

"General Bai…if what you're saying is true, Ti, he'll confront us either way.", said Po.

"I still don't see what's so evil about this guy. I mean sure, he's a jerk. But no offense mom, you used to act the same way back in the day didn't you?", asked Saisei; turning her head to the young tiger.

"Still does. Ow! See!", laughed Po as Tigress punched him in the arm.

"I took no offense by it, Saisei. But I see what you mean.", said a smiling Tigress from being called a mother by her and from satisfying her urge to hit Po. Then her smile faded "But what you do not know is that his name cannot be coincidence. Tsu No Bai is the exact name of the tea shop where Moeru first attempted to kill us."

Po shuddered in disgust from the memory.

"So she is mocking your intelligence?", asked Koru with a raised brow.

"In a strange way, yeah. You heard her yourself, she likes this type of game.", said Po.

Tai Lung let a sigh pass through his lips.

"And should your plan succeed? What will happen to the rest of us?"

"Tai Lung, you will be safe no matter what goes awry. You are one of the few that keep this world from collapsing, even Moeru is not so insane as to kill you.", stated Shifu.

"I was not meaning my own safety, father. But thank you.", nodded the male leopard.

"I will not lie, the rest of you are not guaranteed to live. But for the good of everyone else, nay for the safety of China, it is a sacrifice that may have to be paid.", stated Tigress sadly.

Everyone nodded at this, and a solemn silence was echoed through the home for a moment.

After someone cleared their throat, everyone looked at the source of the sound; Jiu-Ne.

"So when would we be leaving?", she asked, continuing to become more anxious by the minute to see Ko-Ri again.

"A few weeks, should everything go off without a hitch.", said Po "But we can't leave until Crane and Mei Ling get back."

"So you are still convinced that they are innocent, Po?", asked Shifu.

"With every fiber of my being, Shifu.", responded Po in a deadly serious tone.

"And if, by some possibility, you are wrong?", asked Tai Lung.

Po put his left arm on the armrest of his chair to rest his mouth on his knuckle and sighed. He stared at the fabric of the blue tablecloth before him, inspecting the tassels one by one. Finally he looked back up at Tai Lung and broke the silence.

"If the branches of a tree are broken off, the tree still lives on. But it will forever remain anything but whole. We will move on. But we will continue to keep the spots for the two empty. If we find them in our travels, we will greet them with open arms. But if the branches have rotted, we will have no choice but to exterminate the appendages."

Again this was met with a sad, understanding nod from the rest of the group.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beat." groaned Song as the leopardess stood up and stretched. She scooted her chair out from in between the two males and walked towards the door, but not before giving a small wave back in their direction followed by a look over her shoulder that was not sad, but far from happy, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." said Tai Lung and Koru in unison. They looked at each other as the rest of the group of raised eyebrows looked in between the two. Song's whiskers moved at the rebuttal and she paused for a simple moment. But her back remained turned to them; and she left the room with a hitched breath that not many could hear.

After Song's exit, Jiu-Ne, Saisei, Viper, Mantis, and Tai Lung took their leave with only a few mumbled words between them. Koru began to leave, but was stopped by a voice telling him to stay. He turned around to confirm that the almost command came from his sister.

"Po, please take Kicho back into our room. I will be in shortly." spoke the remaining female. Po glanced at the white tiger and nodded to his bride. The panda softly lifted the cub and gingerly left the room as quietly as he could. And as unsettling as the feeling was, Koru kept his back turned when the surprising sound of Shifu shutting the door behind the panda and his grandson protruded into his eardrums.

"Alright, Koru; what happened out there?" asked Tigress in a razor like tone, yet you could hear the concern in her voice.

Koru's nose twitched at the expected, yet bluntly asked question. He did not realize it at first, but he had gone stiff in nervousness; part of him was unsure if he should tell anyone about this, even his own sister. Such a strange and unbelievable tale to tell. But things of this nature seemed to happen to the group.

"Well…" started the male scratching the back of his head. He avoided the eye contact that was being provided for him for good reason. Tigress was the most intuitive person he had ever known.

"What happened between you and Song?" asked Shifu in honest curiosity. Koru visibly sighed in relief from the unknown change in subject, to which the sigh Tigress took full notice of.

"She kissed me." said Koru in a halfhearted shrug. The two before him froze momentarily from this explanation.

"Well now, this is surprising." said Tigress, who crossed her arms after recovering from the shock with a smile.

"Y-yes. But I do not think I am interested." said a blushing tiger.

"Is this why you ran into the forest?" asked a calmly voiced Shifu as he stood on a chair close to Koru ready to smack him in the head.

Koru hesitantly nodded.

"I see, you did not return her feelings and wished not to hurt her. So instinctively you ran into the forbidden forest." Tigress stated while walking to her brother.

Again, Koru nodded; he stiffened so much more as Tigress came closer and closer. He contemplated more on telling them. What would the harm be? He would be deemed insane. And if the Soothsayer was untrustworthy or could not complete the spell, he could not prove it either way. The trees in the forest had led him in a maze before allowing the tiger to reunite with Boki and leave the forest completely; they would not be able to find that section even with years to spare unless the "spirit of the forest" allowed it.

Tigress was standing in front of him now, looking him straight in the eye. Koru had kept his head down during her closing of the distance between them, but it was impossible for him to keep his eyes away from hers because of his height. Suddenly Tigress smacked her palm into his forehead, her eyes sparkling in a feint glow. Koru's attempt to pull away was unsuccessful; somehow Tigress had paralyzed him on the spot. When she was finished, Tigress now showed a look of disbelief and concern covered her once suspicious face for him.

"Koru-"

"Please say nothing to anyone." croaked Koru, his heart wrenching at the reshown sight of his love in such a state; he turned to leave.

"But-" began Tigress, but she was cut off again when Koru stopped and turned around.

"I _mean_ it, Hei-Wa!" quietly seethed Koru with tears stinging his eyes, threatening to escape. Tigress' paws tightened to an insane degree. Koru never said her real name unless he was deadly serious about something. The two siblings stared each other down for minutes on end. Tigress was trying to see passed her brother's eyes to somehow understand his reasoning by reading his mind. Even with her reading his memories before she could not see what he was thinking now, but with her sharp as a tack mind she could interpret what he may think next. Koru was simply waiting for his sister's confirmation to agree to his conditions. Tigress would never break a promise, of this he was sure. But she was as stubborn as he was, she may refuse.

Shifu contemplated the exchange and was greatly tempted to speak his mind, but years upon years of training in meditation and self-discipline allowed him to easily resist these temptations.

Soon Tigress withdrew her gaze and heaved a sigh as her eyes closed. She crossed her arms and opened her eyes once again to look at Koru; and with a subtle and understanding yet apprehensive nod, she saw Koru open the door and walk out in immediate reaction.

"Shifu…" said Tigress as she sensed Koru was out of an ear's reach, "Take me to the Soothsayer as soon as you can."

The red panda nodded in vague understanding; if there was one person whose actions these events reeked of, it was her.

_Later that night; in Song's room_

Tired groans warped under her breath. The feline shifted under her sheets and kept her tightly shut eyes concealed behind the tensing lids. Her breathing was shallow and pained. She felt cold. But the covers Song held would not help her. It could not be helped, for her problem was not truly physical in nature.

_Sounds of children giggling entered her head. They passed over her as if the sound trailed the winds that chilled her. Soft bells chimed all around, giving the laughter a mixture of saddening joy. Images flashed above the young woman. Her betrayal of her best friend; prominent and repeating. Her childhood as a rich brat; imminent and foreboding. Her soul in it's ever tossing about in waves of confusion; present and accounted for._

"_One day your soul will burn, Song. But death will not find you. It will seek you out, after the carnage. He will be blind to your heart, for it holds the seedling of another of which one more powerful than he has sought." said a raspy and whispering voice "Find this seedling…make it GROW!"_

_Song sat up in her bed, gasping in a cold sweat as the last scream echoed in her mind. She panted and looked around in the darkness of her room. Everything was completely still save for the wind gently pressing against the dark red curtains of her balcony to the right of her bed._

_The female shivered in this cold and thought on such a dream that she could not remember. Song wrapped her blanket and sheet around her and made herself cling to it's fabric. She looked around at the room once more. Again, it was still. But the echo in her head had faded, and now she felt very uneasy at the silence she had taken notice of. Usually you could at least hear the sounds of Po or Mantis snoring. Even Koru would snore on occasion. But not tonight. Tonight everything was quiet._

_Song's feet slowly swung over the side of her bed. Keeping the covers around her shoulders, she stood up and dragged her groggy body over the cold floor. She soon reached for the knob to her door and turned the piece of round wood. When Song opened the door, she merely cracked it and peered through the vertical line to see outside the hall. Empty._

_Her blue iris scanned back and forth to take in as much information as possible. Her paranoia having took root in her mind, the female closed the door silently. She then stood right in front of the door and swung it wide open. What she saw only made the leopardess quiver in horror._

_Standing before her door was no longer the hallway, but a giant open mouth. It had enormous yellowing fangs, a giant forked tongue, and the roof and sides of it's mouth were completely blue. In between it's fangs squirmed rotting and half dead bodies wriggling in it's gums and attempting to climb out and escape. It's breath was a vile smell of death and burning flesh; clearly evident of the putrid yellow puss and foam-like liquid oozing from the corners of it's mouth. Suddenly it roared, creating a wave of hot air that flung her to the floor and drowned out her screaming. She was rocked back and forth vigorously in the torrent as if the breath of the monster had appendages to grab hold of her._

"_Song!" roared the demonic voice._

"_Song!" it roared louder._

"SONG!" yelled a voice.

Song continued to scream and to struggle, not daring to open her eyes to the horrific sight before her. She barely registered the fact that she was no longer alone. And that the voice had changed from hatred to worry. Suddenly the arms around her tightened their grip, causing her to react to the feeling of warmth that was provided not by moisture but from a body.

The female opened her eyes carefully. She was visibly shaking all over, and no doubt the group might have had suspicions that her soul may not be with them once again.

"W-w-w-w-w-what h-h-h-h-h-hap-p-p-ppened?" she asked to no one in particular as she sat on the floor partially tangled in her blue sheet and blanket. Sitting and standing around her were Tigress, Shifu, Viper, Saisei and Mantis. Song could hear Kicho crying somewhere in the distance, but he was gradually being soothed of his cries. Apparently Po was rocking him back to sleep.

"You had a nightmare, Song." said Tigress who stood at Song's feet.

"It sounded like a really bad one, too." added softly by Viper who sat beside Tigress. At hearing real voices from her friends, the leopardess began to stop quaking.

"O-oh…" Song sighed in relief knowing that her dream wasn't real and absentmindedly relaxed against the soft surface cradling her.

"My God, what were you dreaming about?" asked Saisei curiously.

The leopardess could only shake her head in reply at first. But she made a small quiver in the vague memory of her dream and attempted at throwing it away. But for some reason she could not forget the details that stuck out in her mind "It was kinda horrific, I guess." she mumbled, "I'll tell you in the morning."

"It _is_ morning." chimed in Shifu, who was in the process of leaving her field of vision behind the bulk of white and black fur to her near right. Part of her still waking mind took note of this, but the part of her that was still haunted by her dream decided to ignore it and simply be thankful for the comfort being there. She turned her head back to the left when Mantis spoke up from Saisei's shoulder.

"Ugh. Yeah, barely." he groaned in hopping away to follow his master "I'm gonna get another hour in."

"I'll come with." yawned Viper whilst slithering after the bug.

"Think I'll help dad with breakfast." said Saisei while standing and groaning a stretch; she then left the room to find her father that had finally succeeded in silencing the once wailing baby.

Tigress smiled uneasily at Song, which momentarily perplexed the spotted feline.

"Meditate on this. We will discuss it later on in the day if you feel up to it." she said to Song, who nodded at Tigress' wise advice. But then Tigress turned her head slightly above and to the right of Song and spoke again "And control yourself. We leave in a couple of hours for the city, and I will not have you acting doped up for the meeting."

Tigress then stood up and walked out of the room. Song was confused at Tigress' last statement, so she blinked her sleepy eyes and tried to concentrate. It was with this concentration that she noticed the sound of purring coming from right next to her. No not right next to her; pressing against her.

Song looked up and blinked once more to see Koru holding her. Apparently it was he who had been shaking her and yelling for her to awaken. She gulped nervously and waited for a few minutes to see if he would stop purring or let go of her. But when he did not cease either action, she cleared her throat as subtly as she could.

"You uh…feeling happy this morning for some reason, Koru?" asked the female whose heart was beating about a mile a minute by this point.

The white tiger hardly registered that Song even spoke, for he was intently staring at her this entire time since she had woken up. But with her speaking directly to him, his head shook slightly; effectively and swiftly rescuing him of his thoughts.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You're…ya'know…purring."

"I am not! Anyways, why would I?" said Koru.

"Mmmaybe it's because you've been latched onto me since I woke up?" replied Song. She tried to shrug, but with his holding her action simply made her chest rise a little.

He stopped purring immediately to keep himself composed.

"I was simply trying to wake you up. You were screaming too loudly and you woke me up." he stated in a harsh tone.

"Yes, I can clearly tell the annoyance in your hold." said Song with a sarcastic tone and smile. She pressed the side of her body against his bare chest a little harder to snuggle in his arms. Koru kept his blushing in check, but he accidently let slip a small momentary purr. He quickly tried to pass it off as him clearing his throat.

"You are imagining things. I do not purr. And this is not a hold. This is a-a grappling technique." said Koru just a little too quickly. He loosened his "grappling technique" on her and stood up. She did not stop her smile at his obvious lie "Now if you will excuse me, I must be taking my morning jog."

The white feline spun on his heel and left the room.

Song sighed and shook her head only to hold it in her leaning paw as she stared at the sight of her empty doorway "Stubborn idiot."

"He's not an idiot!" yelled a small echoing voice. Song's ears perked up; she slowly stood up and swung her head back and forth to see who the voice belonged to. It sounded so familiar…

"Uhhh….whoever just said that needs to come out, or I might seriously freak." stated the suspicious leopardess plainly.

"Said what?" asked a passing Tigress with a risen brow. She stood there with one paw on the doorway, yet she had her body facing the hall.

"Uhm. Nothing, I…" Song glanced around at her room "guess…"

Tigress raised the fur above her eye even further, but shrugged and pressed on towards the kitchen area.

The remaining feline walked to her door and grabbed hold of said door; she stood there for a minute and gave her room one more scan. Maybe she was going crazy or something. After all, nothing looked out of the ordinary aside from the state of her bed sheets. Her closet door was shut, her bedside table was perfectly still and pressed against the wall, the curtains to her private balcony were closed, and every inch of her floor which was not covered by furniture was bare.

With an inward sigh, Song walked out of her room; shutting the door behind her.

Behind the curtains came a small, elderly and feminine giggle…

_In the kitchen_

Everyone but Viper, Mantis and Jiu-Ne now sat at an iron circular table of the quite large hospital kitchen. The kitchen was one hundred square feet with counters all around; much like the Jade Palace kitchen, in exception to the windows that lined the opposing wall to the doorway to brighten the almost dull table before the door.

As Song walked in, she noticed the large amount of food already set on serving plates sitting in the middle of the table. Po and Saisei were currently talking to each other with their backs to the rest of the group while still cooking at the counter; with Saisei attempting to make steamed rice and scrambled eggs and Po whipping up a few things for lunch. Shifu sat in his seat opposite Tigress eating politely. Tigress ate slowly while continuously glancing at Koru who sat at Shifu's left. Koru was eating as well, but he looked incredulously nervous. Upon further inspection you could see that he held a small bundle of a sleeping creature in his left arm while eating with the other; whether he was nervous from Tigress' monotonous glances or from just trying not to crush the delicate Kicho, Song could not tell. Yet she was highly amused as she sat down in the chair nearest the door while Koru had to pause each time Kicho stirred in his cradling hold.

Everyone ate without many words exchanged. Soon Po and Saisei took their seats on either side of Tigress and ate. A few minutes later, Mantis' hunger overwhelmed his desire to be lazy and led him to the table to eat. Afterwards Jiu-Ne awoke and joined in with Viper following soon after. But no one said much; if anything was said, it was a comment on the daily activities of things outside of the meeting. Yet nothing would be said of the meeting itself for everyone knew they would tire enough without a beforehand reminder. Needless to say that no one was looking forward to this. But it had to be done. After breakfast though, not all would be leaving for the Imperial Palace immediately, for they had daily responsibilities. Mantis had to keep his classes going throughout the day. Saisei and Jiu-Ne studied at and attended the mage classes respectively. Koru was one of the few who worked on their new future home. Shifu aided Tai Lung in his Channeler duties. And even Viper had a habit of instructing a few novice dancers at the studio; she was practically an instructor herself. As a matter of fact, the only one with nothing else to do was-

"Song?" the feline grunted at the panda who questioned her, for her mouth was full of food, "We were thinking, do you care to watch Kicho while we're in the meeting? At least until someone else comes and either of us can at least watch over him. I'm pretty sure that the Emperor will have a fit when only two of us first show up; no telling what he'll do if only one of us can sit in." said Po.

As Po was talking, Song was slowly chewing her food and tried to listen carefully as if this was an important mission. To be honest she was not very highly enthused at this "mission". But if it's what the Dragon Warrior wanted, she would suck it up for him.

Shaking her thoughts away, Song swallowed her food and blinked, "Oh, sure. But what if he doesn't like me? He might just keep bawling until one of you comes back."

"There is only one way to find out." stated Koru who now stood beside her holding out the child. Song hesitantly reached out and cradled the baby. So far so good. She held the panger to her frame and looked down at him. He was awake now. And he was looking up at her. She smiled when her nerves got the better of her, and it showed. Little Kicho cooed and reached up a tiny paw as if trying to grab onto something. The leopardess raised a brow at his actions and smirked while leaning her head back and by extension her whiskers, "Oh no kid, I'm not falling for that one."

In retaliation of not getting what he wanted, Kicho's eyes began watering and he squirmed in discomfort and irritation. The sensitive and misunderstanding baby sniffled and gave little baby whines.

Scoffing a sigh and rolling her eyes, Song lowered her head and prepared for the incoming pain. Kicho's expression performed a one hundred eighty degree turn as he grabbed hold of the whiskers. Song shut her eyes, and Kicho tugged with all his little might. But her pain never came. She opened them back up and found that Tigress was in fact holding onto her whiskers close to her nose, keeping Kicho from ripping them from their roots by anchoring the long hairs for her.

"Yes, you will need to watch out for that. If you have not noticed already, my demon child has already ripped off two of my whiskers." said Tigress amusedly and half bitterly. She softly took Kicho into her arms after getting him to let go of Song's whiskers, "Come on, son, it is time to eat." the striped female then stood and preceded to exit the room entirely.

"We'll probably hand him over when we get up to the Palace courtyard. Tigress is very overprotective." said Po.

"I understand Po. I mean come on, the kid isn't even a week old yet!" she replied in chuckles; resting her chin on her arm. Taking a glance around, she noticed that Jiu-Ne, Saisei, Mantis, Koru and Shifu had all left; leaving her, Po, and a slow eating Viper alone. Po was still eating as well, but he seemed more distracted than slow. But nevertheless even with the panda's weight loss this past year, no matter the amount of muscle tone his arms and legs had built up, and no matter how ancient his actual soul was he was still Po. Something wasn't right; and the two females in the room with him took notice.

"So what's got you so glum?" asked Viper before Song could get a chance to ask.

"Huh? What do you mean?" rebutted the bear. He glanced at them both, but quickly returned to his plate.

"I mean you look depressed. Like something is pulling you down." she replied.

"Oh that, I'm just getting very sick and tired of the bureaucracy of this Imperial City. I miss the Valley of Peace…" he said looking at his remaining foodstuffs with distaste.

"Are you sure?" asked Song in a look of skepticism.

"Yeah! I'm sure as soon as we get the plan going and this whole Moeru thing is put to rest, I'll feel great." Po exclaimed in his usual smile; which was rare nowadays.

The girls glanced at each other.

"Oookayyy, if you say so." said the leopard as she stood, "Ready to go then?"

"Yeah." sighed the panda with a stand. The two left the kitchen to make their way to the front of the building. When they found the front doors, Po and Song found Tigress just outside holding the bundle of squirming joy. The three traversed the field in a calmness that seemed unnatural. It was not long ago when these three had a tension between them like no other. But it seemed as though time really does heal all wounds.

As they met the midpoint, they saw the building team working away. There were about ten workers in all, not including Koru. Some were hammering wooden planks together, a couple were sanding the wood that had already been put together, and others were hammering those sanded pieces into one giant piece. Koru could hardly be seen behind the pillars he kept adjusting in accordance to the instructions given by the commanding warthog on the other side.

"Did you have to order so many columns to be made? Tacky." mumbled Song. Po and Tigress glanced at each other.

"So another couple bites the dust, eh? Before you know it Shifu and Jiu-Ne will be-"

"Po, I swear to God if you finish that sentence there will be much pain in your future." interrupted Tigress.

"Hey. I'm just sayin! Somethings going on and I just want a little warning first. That way we can go ahead and move your room on the other side of the house. Ow!" laughed Po as he rubbed his arm where Song had struck him.

"Thank you, Song." said the striped one.

"My pleasure." replied the spotted one.

"Anyways, I would not get my hopes up yet Song." said Tigress.

"Even if I admit anything, which I'm not, why not?"

"Just trust me." stated Tigress who did not look away from the path ahead as they entered the forest.

Song became silent the entire rest of the way to the Imperial Palace. Tigress leaned on the wall just beside the doors as Tigress handed over Kicho. The leopardess watched as the panda and tiger entered the room. And as thankful as she was that she was not going in there in the immediate hour, Song could not help but sigh and groan when she leaned her head back against the cold stone wall.

_Within the Imperial Palace minutes later…_

"She committed suicide? How many more of your people have this tendency?" spat the general.

"You know I'm getting real sick and tired of this! We're warriors! Not everything is going to go perfectly well and if you have any idea how hard it's been this past year, you wouldn't have questioned us for a minute!" shouted Po.

"I seem to recall you being a Kung Fu history buff, Master Po! Our scribes will put these days in the archives for all to see! Are you telling me you do not wish such a lavish tale to be told throughout the ages of the days of the _Great Dragon Warrior_!" yelled out General Bai mockingly with his arms out high as if proclaiming a grand feat.

"Some things need to be kept out of those tales." said Po darkly "If readers knew everything, all the blood and pain that the heroes go through; they would be more disgusted than inspired."

"Ehhh, continuing on." the general dismissed Po's speech with the wave of his paw. The Emperor, who usually carries out such a command, was currently asleep in his chair. Most of the other generals were not there yet save for one, and he was trying desperately to organize the papers on the table.

Po sighed and sat down. It was Tigress' turn. The tiger stood up and crossed her arms.

"After that, one of our members went missing for a week. And before you even ask us why we did not know where he was, we did you prick. He spent all of his time here in the city; holed up in the Sage's Temple to meditate with another of our clan."

"Hm." General Bai scribbled on the current scroll he was using "And then?"

"And then…" Tigress looked at Po, who shrugged at her. She returned his shrug with another shrug before looking back at the general "And then nothing. Nothing significant happened between then and now."

"Aside from three of your clan betraying China." added General Bai smugly.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night; at least then you aren't bothering us. Now if you will excuse us, we have to get back to our daily lives. You know, preparing for Moeru's plans, trying to save China. You would not be interested in it. It isn't about delaying people who do good in this world, it is more about keeping China from falling under a tyrannical maniac." Po stood while he and Tigress began to walk towards the doors during her speech, but were stopped by guards.

"I'm afraid you will not be leaving today. Guards, arrest them." said Bai.

"You're serious." stated Tigress with her brow raised as the guards walked forward with acupuncture cuffs.

"This is a big mistake, Bai. Stop this now and no one will get hurt." said Po.

"I doubt highly if you will do anything to stop me." chuckled General Tsu No Bai "You see with my men taking your child to another part of the Palace, you will do whatever I say whenever I say it unless you wish for harm to come to him. And trust me, I am sure the Chinese citizens will be completely understanding when they see the sight of the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress destroying their beloved Emperor's home."

"Whoa, bad, bad move buddy." growled Po.

"Your think we care what a bunch of locals think of us? As long as the Chinese are alive and healthy, this is what we care for even if they hate us." seethed Tigress.

"Oooh, I'm so glad to hear you say that!" said Tsu No Bai in an excited shout "Because you see everything you told me yesterday, I altered and sent as a message to every town and village in Southern China. You are currently wanted in half of the country."

"What did you tell them!" barked Po.

"About how you destroyed your home town, burned down a forest filled with thousands of Chinese citizens, ran the streets over with blood and destroyed over half of an entire city as big as Kyrokuyoru! Everyone will be hunting for you!" the panther began to laugh at the situation, but it was short lived when Tigress slammed a palm into his face, causing him to fly into the opposing wall and crushing many of his bones. At the same instant Po punched one guard in the stomach, elbowed another in the face, and threw a chair onto the general that was previously sitting down.

"Let's go find Kicho!" shouted Po as he ran towards the exit with Tigress quickly behind. Once they exited, they found Song sitting on the ground still holding Kicho.

"Kicho!" said Tigress breathlessly; she took her child in her arms and hugged him to her chest. At the same time Song stood up feeling very confused for good reason.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"What's going on? What's going on is we're-" Po stopped himself to kick two guards away that were attempting to tackle him "We're wanted all over China!"

"What!" shouted Song. Kicho had awakened from the commotion and began to cry.

"Come on, explain later! We have to get the others and leave; now!" the three ran as fast as they could without harming Kicho with Po taking out any opposing forces.

Once they left the courtyard and into the common streets, they found themselves in the higher class housing level.

"I will get Shifu, Tai Lung, Saisei and mother!" said Tigress as they began to split up.

"I'll get Koru!" yelled Song.

"I'll get Viper and Mantis!" said Po.

And the three split up, none of them noticing the dark clouds beginning to form on the horizon.

_In the sky, miles away from the Imperial City_

Hundreds of bats flew together as if they were a fog of collective power. Each bat held from three to five men; each with eyes red with mindlessness and maddening hatred. But in the front held the biggest bat that held the baddest warriors. Moeru stood with no joy in her features at all. Hikage was at her side with a vicious smile. Monkey sat behind them tending to the wounds of Crane, who lay unconscious and half dead. And behind them stood a figure dressed all in ebony, with the figure of a healthy virile woman.

"Come here, servant." said Moeru darkly.

"Me?" asked Monkey.

"No." she replied. And the black figure covered In a black shirt and pants stepped forward and knelt before the red lion.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Go down there and prepare my lover for my arrival; destroy the house."

The figure nodded and flung herself off the side of the bat, freefalling until a smaller bat swooped in to carry her the rest of the way down.

_On the Top of a Mountain Between the City and the Army_

A small hawk sat perched on the branch of a small tree sticking out of the rock wall of the mountain. It stared with disapproval at the army for a long time. But once one split off from the rest, the hawk took flight and dove for the Imperial City.


End file.
